Bill Text: CA AB1775 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Occupational safety: live events.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 759, Statutes of 2022. [AB1775 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB1775-Amended.html

---

Amended  IN  Assembly  May 19, 2022

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 24, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1775

---

Introduced by Assembly Member Ward

February 03, 2022

---

An act to add Part 14 (commencing with Section 9250) to Division 5 of the Labor Code, relating to occupational safety.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1775, as amended, Ward. Occupational safety: live events.

Existing law establishes the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the Department of Industrial Relations, and charges the division with the enforcement of various laws affecting safe working conditions, including the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973.

This bill would require a contracting entity, as defined, to require an entertainment events vendor to certify for their employees and employees of their subcontractors that those individuals have complied with specified training, certification, and workforce requirements, including that employees involved in setting up, tearing down, or the production of a live event at the venue have completed prescribed trainings of the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The bill would impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each serious violation of those provisions, and would require the division to deposit those funds in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

---

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) California residents can enjoy live music, theater, dance, cultural, and other live events year-round at California’s many indoor and outdoor event venues located on state- or county-owned facilities.

(2) The workers that set up and tear down temporary staging, including lighting systems, sound systems, video walls, and other scenic elements for live events at arenas, stadiums, fairgrounds, and outdoor venues, face serious workplace hazards that can risk the safety of the workers, performers, and the public.

(3) These workers handle complex systems in all weather conditions, including excessive heat, rain, and windy conditions, working on rigging at great heights, and set up temporary stages often on unknown surfaces, such as damp ground, sand, hot asphalt, and other unstable foundations.

(4) There is a history of accidents, injuries, and fatalities of workers responsible for setting up and breaking down events.

(5) Many of these accidents are preventable and due to the lack of knowledge, training, and experience with established safety protocols and best practices within this sector of the entertainment industry.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to promote safety standards and certifications that ensure that all live events and programming are safe for workers, performers, and the public.

SEC. 2.

 Part 14 (commencing with Section 9250) is added to Division 5 of the Labor Code, to read:

PART 14. Safety on Staging for Live Events

9250.

 For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Auxiliary organization” means an entity that is included as an auxiliary organization pursuant to Section 89901 of the Education Code.

(b) “Contract” means an existing event and reservation agreement between a contracting entity and an entertainment events vendor to produce a live event at a public facility.

(c) “Contracting entity” means a body that contracts with an entertainment events vendor to set up, produce, and tear down a live event at a public events venue.

(d) “Division” means the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

(e) “Entertainment events vendor” means a private company that contracts to set up, produce, and tear down a live event and includes any subcontractor employer involved in the event production.

(f) “Entertainment technician certification program” Technical Certification Program” means the industry and labor nongovernmental program of the Entertainment Services and Technology Association that grants certification to a worker who has demonstrated mastery as an entertainment technician.

(g) “OSHA-10” means the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Outreach Training Program 10-hour course.

(h) “OSHA-10/General Entertainment Safety” means the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s 10-hour course on workplace health customized for the entertainment and exhibition industries.

(i) “OSHA-30” means the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s 30-hour course.

(j) “Public events venue” means a state-operated fairground, county fairground, state park, California State University, University of California, or auxiliary organization-run facility that hosts live events.

(k) “Skilled and trained workforce” has the same meaning as that term is defined in Section 2601 of the Public Contract Code.

9251.

 (a) A contracting entity shall require an entertainment events vendor to certify for their employees, and any subcontractors subcontactors’ employees, as part of the contract for production of any live event at their venue, all of the following:

(1) An employee of an entertainment events vendor involved in the setting up, tearing down, or production of a live event at the venue has completed the OSHA-10 or the OSHA-10/General Entertainment Safety training, as applicable to their occupation.

(2) One of the following applies:

(A) Heads of departments and leads have completed the OSHA-30 training, and they are certified through the Entertainment Technician Certification Program or another certification program, as specified by the division.

(B) The entertainment events vendor meets the conditions for a skilled and trained workforce.

(3) A sufficient number of workers are employed to safely set up, tear down, and operate the live event.

(b) An entertainment events vendor shall certify in writing, and as part of the contract, that they have verified the training completion and certification requirements of all employees that will work on the event.

(c) The requirements of this section shall not apply to a direct employee of the contracting entity. public events venue.

9252.

 (a) A person who An entertainment events vendor that violates Section 9251 shall have 30 days to cure a violation the division determines is not a serious violation. If the violation is not cured within 30 days, then the violation shall be deemed a serious violation subject to subdivision (b).

(b) A person who An entertainment events vendor that violates Section 9251 shall be assessed a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation the division determines is a serious violation.

(c) Penalties shall only be assessed against an entertainment events vendor and shall not be assessed against an employee of an entertainment events vendor or an employee of a subcontractor for not completing the training or certification required by Section 9251.

(d) The entertainment events vendor citation under this section is in addition to any other penalties authorized under Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.

(c)

(e) The division shall deposit the funds assessed pursuant to this section in the Occupational Safety and Health Fund established pursuant to Section 62.5.

9253.

 This part, or any related health and safety standard, does not prevent or limit an employer, contracting entity, or entertainment events vendor from adopting stricter safety standards.

9254.

 Nothing in this part relieves an employer from conducting any other training required under Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.