Bill Text: NY A05965 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Establishes a registry of workplace fatalities to record information pertaining to all incidents under which an employee suffers a fatal injury; requires the filing of 72-hour and 90-day reports pertaining to such workplace fatalities and requires the department of labor to publish such reports on the department's website.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 30-5)

Status: (Passed) 2020-12-23 - APPROVAL MEMO.68 [A05965 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A05965-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5965--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 20, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. DE LA ROSA, COLTON, ARROYO, TAYLOR, REYES, McDO-
          NOUGH, ROZIC, EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, CRUZ, BUCHWALD, BENEDETTO, BARNWELL,
          DenDEKKER, RICHARDSON, LENTOL, MOSLEY,  DeSTEFANO,  BARRON,  JACOBSON,
          DARLING, L. ROSENTHAL, ENGLEBRIGHT, SIMOTAS, BYRNE, BRABENEC, McMAHON,
          WALLACE,  SIMON, LUPARDO, ABINANTI, JAFFEE, SCHMITT -- Multi-Sponsored
          by -- M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Committee  on
          Labor  --  recommitted  to  the  Committee on Labor in accordance with
          Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to establishing a registry of
          workplace fatalities in the construction industry to  record  informa-
          tion  pertaining  to  all incidents under which an employee performing
          construction work suffers a work-related fatal injury

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 44 to read
     2  as follows:
     3    §  44.  Workplace  fatality  registry;  construction. 1. Registry. The
     4  department shall create and maintain a registry of workplace  fatalities
     5  in  the construction industry, which shall include information regarding
     6  all incidents under  which  an  employee  performing  construction  work
     7  suffers  a  work-related  fatal  injury in the workplace.  Such registry
     8  shall include the information reported to  the  department  pursuant  to
     9  subdivisions three and four of this section, in addition to any informa-
    10  tion  deemed  pertinent  by the commissioner as a result of any investi-
    11  gation, hearing, or other proceedings of the department.
    12    2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
    13    a. "Employee" shall include, but not be limited to, direct  employees,
    14  contracted  employees, subcontracted employees, independent contractors,
    15  temporary or contingency workers, apprentices, interns,  volunteers,  or
    16  any  other persons who perform duties at the direction and discretion of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09276-08-0

        A. 5965--A                          2

     1  an employer or who provide services pursuant to a contract in the  work-
     2  place.
     3    b.  "Employer" shall include a direct employer, contractor, or subcon-
     4  tractor. In the absence of a formal hiring  agreement,  the  person  who
     5  directs or provides compensation to the employee shall be considered the
     6  employer unless such person is also directed and compensated by another.
     7  In  such  cases,  the  persons  successively  above  the employee in the
     8  employment chain shall be considered the employer. In  the  instance  of
     9  the death of an intern or volunteer, the entity directing such intern or
    10  volunteer in his or her duties as such shall be considered the employer.
    11    c.  "Workplace"  shall  include,  but  not be limited to, any location
    12  where an employee performs any work-related duty in the course of his or
    13  her employment, or any other site where the employee may be as a  result
    14  of employer direction.
    15    d.  "Construction"  shall  include,  but  not  be limited to, any work
    16  involving the construction, reconstruction, alteration,  rehabilitation,
    17  repair,  renovation, demolition, or installation of any building, struc-
    18  ture, or improvement, or in relation  to  the  excavation  of  or  other
    19  development or improvement to any land.
    20    3.  Seventy-two-hour reports. a. Each county coroner, medical examiner
    21  or other authorized official whose role  is  to  register  deaths,  when
    22  making  the  determination  as  to  the cause and manner of death, shall
    23  determine whether such death was the  result  of  a  work-related  fatal
    24  injury  in the workplace and report all such workplace fatalities in the
    25  construction industry to the department within seventy-two hours of such
    26  determination.
    27    b. Information to be reported within seventy-two hours shall  include,
    28  but not be limited to:
    29    (i) the name of the employee;
    30    (ii) the age of the employee;
    31    (iii) the cause of death;
    32    (iv) the manner of death;
    33    (v) the location of death;
    34    (vi) the name of the employer;
    35    (vii) the business address of the employer;
    36    (viii) the name of the official or medical personnel making the decla-
    37  ration of death;
    38    (ix)  the name of the person or persons charged with making the deter-
    39  mination of the cause and manner of death; and
    40    (x) contact information for the  office  making  notification  to  the
    41  department,  including  contact  information  for  the person or persons
    42  making the declaration of death, the person or persons  determining  the
    43  cause  of  death,  and  the  person or persons determining the manner of
    44  death.
    45    4. Ninety-day reports. a.  Upon receiving a report pursuant to  subdi-
    46  vision  three  of this section, the department shall notify the employer
    47  that such death was determined to be the result of a work-related  fatal
    48  injury  in  the workplace and shall require the employer to submit addi-
    49  tional information regarding such workplace fatality. The employer shall
    50  provide such information to the department no  later  than  ninety  days
    51  after receiving such notification.
    52    b.  Information  to  be reported within ninety days shall include, but
    53  not be limited to:
    54    (i) the name of the employer;
    55    (ii) the business address of the employer;
    56    (iii) the stated business purpose or industry of the employer;

        A. 5965--A                          3

     1    (iv) the name and age of the employee;
     2    (v) the ethnicity of the employee;
     3    (vi) the nationality of the employee;
     4    (vii) the immigration status of the employee, if known;
     5    (viii) the craft, trade or occupation of the employee; and
     6    (ix) the union status of the employee.
     7    5. Investigation. The department in its jurisdiction may also:
     8    a.  conduct an investigation into any work-related fatal injury in the
     9  workplace involving an employee performing construction work;
    10    b. request additional information from an employer in relation to such
    11  employee or such workplace fatality; and
    12    c. request information as to whether criminal or  civil  charges  have
    13  been filed against the employer in the death of the employee, including:
    14    (i) the details of such criminal or civil charges including the charg-
    15  ing officer or agency; and
    16    (ii) the actual criminal or civil charge or charges.
    17    6.  Reporting  system.  The  department  shall  establish  a telephone
    18  reporting system for the information required to be reported pursuant to
    19  subdivisions three and four of this section.  The department shall  also
    20  establish  an  online  electronic  information  reporting system for the
    21  information required to be reported  pursuant  to  this  section  within
    22  twelve months of the effective date of this section.
    23    7.  Failure  to report. Failure by any employer to report the informa-
    24  tion required pursuant to subdivision four of this section within ninety
    25  days of notification by the department that such death was the result of
    26  a work-related fatal injury in the workplace shall be subject to a  fine
    27  of  not  less  than one thousand dollars nor more than two thousand five
    28  hundred dollars per failure to make such report.
    29    8. Accessibility of registry. The department shall establish and main-
    30  tain an online database to  make  available  all  information  and  data
    31  regarding all workplace fatalities in the construction industry reported
    32  to  the  registry  pursuant  to  this section. Such information shall be
    33  provided in the aggregate and shall  be  electronically  accessible  and
    34  searchable  to  the  public, provided however, that in no event shall an
    35  employee's name or other personal identifying information be included in
    36  such database. The department shall update the database with the  infor-
    37  mation  reported  to  the  registry pursuant to this section within five
    38  business days of the receipt of such reports by the department.
    39    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    40  it shall have become a law; provided, however, that any death subject to
    41  the provisions of this act that occurs on or after the day on which this
    42  act shall have become a law shall be subject to the reporting provisions
    43  of this act and shall be reported within thirty days after  such  death.
    44  Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule
    45  or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effec-
    46  tive  date  are  authorized  to  be made and completed on or before such
    47  effective date.
feedback