SB20 - Occupational safety: high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial stone.

Senate Bill No. 20 CHAPTER 734 An act to amend Sections 6302 and 6432 of, and to add Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 6359.1) to Part 1 of Division 5 of, the Labor Code, relating to occupational safety and health. [ Approved by Governor October 13, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 13, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 20, Menjivar. Occupational safety: high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial stone. Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and requires the department to be conducted under the control of an executive officer known as the Director of Industrial Relations. Existing law states that the function of the department, among other things, is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of California, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment and vests the department with responsibility for administering the state plan for the development and enforcement of occupational safety and health standards relating to issues covered by corresponding standards adopted pursuant to federal law. Existing law establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board within the department to adopt occupational safety and health standards for the state, including standards dealing with exposure to harmful airborne contaminants. Existing law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health within the department to enforce all occupational safety and health standards, as specified. A violation of these standards and regulations under specific circumstances is a crime. Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973 (OSHA), requires employers to comply with certain safety and health standards, as specified, and charges the Division of Occupational Safety and Health with enforcement of the act. OSHA defines “serious injury or illness” for purposes of the act to mean any injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment that results in one of a list of conditions, including inpatient hospitalization, as provided, the loss of a member of the body, any serious degree of permanent disfigurement, and impairment sufficient to cause a part of the body or the function of an organ to become permanently and significantly reduced in efficiency on or off the job, as specified. Under OSHA, certain knowing, negligent, or willful violations of safety and health standards are punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would add silicosis and silica-related lung cancer to the list of conditions that, if resulting from an injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with an employment, would constitute a “serious injury or illness.” By expanding the scope of a crime under OSHA, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. OSHA creates a rebuttable presumption that a “serious violation” exists in a place of employment if the division demonstrates that there is a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm could result from the actual hazard created by the violation. OSHA defines “serious physical harm” for purposes of that provision. This bill would expand that definition of “serious physical harm” to include silicosis and silica-related lung cancer. The bill would impose restrictions on specified high-exposure trigger tasks on artificial stone, as those terms are defined. Specifically, a person or entity engaged in high-exposure trigger tasks would be prohibited from using dry methods, and would be required to use effective wet methods when engaging in any high-exposure trigger tasks. The bill would make a violation of these provisions grounds for, among other disciplinary action, an immediate order by the division prohibiting continued work. The bill would require the division to enforce these provisions by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. The bill would require the owner or operator of a fabrication shop, or any individual who will employ another individual to perform high-exposure trigger tasks in a fabrication shop, to ensure that an employee who will perform high-exposure tasks receives specified training and, beginning on July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to attest to the division that these employees have been trained. The bill would require the division to enforce these provisions by issuing a citation alleging a violation and a notice of civil penalty. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to consider a report of silicosis related to occupational exposure to artificial stone a serious illness and to report that case to the division. The bill would require the division, if it receives such a report, to subject the employer or place of employment to investigation, as specified. The bill would require the division to notify the State Department of Public Health of any cases of silicosis related to artificial stone identified through enforcement activities. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to conduct specified activities to address silicosis risk exposure in fabrication shops, including providing technical assistance to local health jurisdictions engaged in silicosis surveillance and prevention activities. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES 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 regarding silicosis and its associated health impacts: (1) According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), silicosis is an occupational lung disease caused by the inhalation of respirable dust containing crystalline silica. (2) According to the State Department of Public Health, crystalline silica is found in many materials, including sand, concrete, glass, natural stone, and engineered stone. Small silica dust particles are created when workers cut, saw, grind, drill, or crush these materials. When these small particles of silica dust get in the air, they can be breathed into the lungs and cause silicosis. (3) When small particles of silica get into the lungs, they can cause permanent scarring and difficulty breathing and can also cause lung cancer, kidney damage, and several autoimmune diseases. Initial symptoms of silicosis can include shortness of breath, cough, and fatigue. Workers can die from silica dust overexposure. (4) Many cases of incurable and fatal lung problems from exposure to silica dust in stone slab fabrication workers have been reported around the world and in the United States, including several cases among relatively young workers in California. Workers who cut, grind, and polish stone slabs containing crystalline silica are at risk if appropriate measures are not taken. (5) According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, silicosis is irreversible and can progress even if a person is no longer exposed to silica dust, but with the right measures in place, it is preventable. It can take a person 10 to 30 years to develop silicosis, but a person who is exposed to high levels of silica dust can develop silicosis faster. (b) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following regarding the increase in the number of cases of silicosis in California: (1) Since 2010, more than 1,000 cases of silicosis in workers who fabricate countertops and other surface applications containing crystalline silica have been reported worldwide. The first cases of silicosis were reported in Spain in 2010 and in Israel in 2012. The first case of silicosis reported in the United States was in Texas in 2015. (2) According to the State Department of Public Health, there are 370 workers who fabricate, install, or fabricate and install countertops and other stone products identified as of August 22, 2025, with silicosis in California. At least 21 workers have died, most of whom were 30 to 40 years of age, inclusive, and at least 44 workers have received lung transplants. (c) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following regarding the use of silica in products: (1) Crystalline silica is a common mineral found in the earth’s crust. Materials like sand, stone, concrete, and mortar contain crystalline silica. Stone slabs containing crystalline silica such as quartz are becoming increasingly popular for kitchen countertops and for use on a variety of surfaces. (2) Workers who cut, polish, or grind products that contain crystalline silica can be exposed to hazardous levels of silica dust. (3) In 1938, United States Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins declared that “silicosis can be prevented.” (d) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following regarding the impact of silicosis on undocumented workers: (1) The demographic for workers contracting silicosis are typically young, immigrant workers, are all males with a median of 46 years of age at diagnosis, with 98 percent originating from Mexico or Central America, and are mostly reliant on public insurance or uninsured. (2) Physicians at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in the County of Los Angeles identified a cluster of patients with a rare occupational lung disease called pulmonary silicosis and played a key role in bringing their cases to light. The patients identified are predominantly Mexican and Latin American immigrant men who work as stonecutters in the San Fernando Valley, cutting synthetic stone kitchen and bathroom countertops that contain crystalline silica. According to a State Department of Public Health directory, there are over 100 stone slab fabrication shops in the center’s catchment area in the San Fernando Valley and over 1,000 within the state, and many other at-risk workers in the County of Los Angeles and throughout the state. (e) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following regarding the impact of silicosis worldwide: (1) The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) Te Kauae Kaimahi advanced a call for a total ban on engineered stone in New Zealand. According to the NZCTU President, Richard Wagstaff, “the evidence of the harm caused by engineered stone is overwhelming. It is clear to us that a ban on this product is the only option.” (2) On July 1, 2024, Australia became the first country to institute a ban on engineered stone and follows a surge in hundreds of workers developing silicosis from working on engineered stone, a popular material mostly used for kitchen benches and bathroom vanities. When the ban was announced, the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ Assistant Secretary, Liam O’Brien, said, “Engineered stone is a fashion product that is killing the workers who make it. With alternatives readily available, why are we risking the lives of tradies for a fashionable finish in our kitchens?” (f) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would help protect and prevent worker overexposure to respirable crystalline silica by imposing all of the following requirements: (1) Prohibiting the undertaking of fabrication activities without the use of effective wet methods that effectively suppress dust. (2) Requiring more reporting and tracking of silicosis cases. (3) Closing gaps in current law to allow for more effective enforcement. SEC. 2. Section 6302 of the Labor Code is amended to read: 6302. As used in this division: (a) “Director” means the Director of Industrial Relations. (b) “Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations. (c) “Insurer” includes the State Compensation Insurance Fund and any private company, corporation, mutual association, and reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, authorized under the laws of this state to insure employers against liability for compensation under this part and under Division 4 (commencing with Section 3201), and any employer to whom a certificate of consent to self-insure has been issued. (d) “Division” means the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. (e) “Standards board” means the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, within the department. (f) “Appeals board” means the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, within the department. (g) “Aquaculture” means a form of agriculture as defined in Section 17 of the Fish and Game Code. (h) “Serious injury or illness” means any injury or illness occurring in a place of employment or in connection with any employment that requires inpatient hospitalization, for other than medical observation or diagnostic testing, or in which an employee suffers an amputation, the loss of an eye, or any serious degree of permanent disfigurement, but does not include any injury or illness or death caused by an accident on a public street or highway, unless the accident occurred in a construction zone. “Serious injury or illness” includes silicosis and silica-related lung cancer. (i) “Serious exposure” means any exposure of an employee to a hazardous substance when the exposure occurs as a result of an incident, accident, emergency, or exposure over time and is in a degree or amount sufficient to create a realistic possibility that death or serious physical harm in the future could result from the actual hazard created by the exposure. SEC. 3. Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 6359.1) is added to Part 1 of Division 5 of the Labor Code, to read: CHAPTER 2.2. Artificial Stone; Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica 6359.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) “Artificial stone” means any reconstituted, artificial, synthetic, composite, engineered, or manufactured stone product. It is commonly made by combining natural stone or other crystalline silica-containing materials with adhesives, polymers, epoxies, resins, or other binding materials to form a slab. Fired ceramic and porcelain tiles and panels are not artificial stone. (b) “Department” means the Department of Industrial Relations. (c) “Director” means the Director of Industrial Relations. (d) “Division” means the Division of Occupational Safety & Health. (e) “Dry methods” means the undertaking of high-ex [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]