Esta ley enmienda la Ley Núm. 16 de 5 de agosto de 1975, conocida como la Ley de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional de Puerto Rico. Introduce cambios en las definiciones, establece un Fondo Especial para la Promoción de la Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional, modifica las penalidades por incumplimiento, faculta al Secretario del Trabajo a ordenar cierres temporales de lugares de trabajo en situaciones de peligro inminente, y promueve la creación de comités de seguridad en los lugares de trabajo.
| (No. 281) | |
|---|---|
| (Approved December 19, 2002) | |
| AN ACT |
To amend subsection
(c) and add a new subsection
(l) to Section 3; to amend subsection
(b) of Section 8; to add a new subsection
(d) and rename subsections
(d) ,
(e) ,
(f) and
(g) as subsections
(e) ,
(f) ,
(g) , and
(h) , respectively, of Section 6; to add a clause 8 to Section 7; to amend subsections
(f) ,
(g) and
(i) of Section 25, eliminate subsection
(j) , and rename subsection
(k) as
(j) , add new subsections
(k) and
(l) and rename subsections
(l) ,
(m) and
(n) as
(m) ,
(n) and
(o) , respectively, of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended.
For many years, the working class lacked safety guarantees in their employment. The lack of legislation back then in addition to the exploitation of workers, constituted an enormous hazard to the health and safety of workers, especially in high hazard occupations. It is for this reason, and the impact caused by the Industrial Revolution, that governments from around the world deemed it pertinent to initiate the approval of legislation assuring minimum safety standards that all employers must observe in their workplace.
In Puerto Rico, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, approved in the 70s, answered to one of the most important demands of the working class of our country. This Act guarantees minimum safety to all employees in their employment, leaving the responsibility for such safety to the employer. Likewise, the Compensation System for Work-Related Accidents Act was created, providing compensation to workers who suffer any type of accident or
disability while performing their duties. Notwithstanding these safeguards, we often see unfortunate accidents of workers who, as part of their daily duties are disabled, and in the worst-case scenario, even lose their lives in situations the employer could reasonably have prevented. Unfortunately, in many of these cases the duties assigned involve extreme risk for the workers, which in addition to the negligence and lack of precaution of the employer in taking more adequate safety measures, make the workplace the most hazardous place for the worker on a daily basis.
Due to the aforementioned reasons, the Legislature complies with its duties of safeguarding the safety of the Puerto Rican workers and seeks to take new safety measures to guarantee a safer workplace for our workers.
Section 1.-Subsection
(c) is hereby amended and a new subsection (1) added to Section 3 of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended, to read as follows: "(c) Employer means and includes any individual, natural or juridical person and any individual representing said natural or juridical person and/or who exercises authority over any employment or employee, including the government of the Commonwealth, the public corporations and municipalities.
(d) ...
(e) ...
(f) ...
(g) ...
(h) ...
(i) ...
(j) ...
(k) ...
(l) Special Fund for the Promotion of Occupational Safety and Health means a fund created to receive all moneys collected by the Secretary of the Treasury by virtue of the penalties imposed by Section 25 of this Act.
(m) ..." Section 2.-Subsection
(b) of Section 8 of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "(a) ...
(b) Notwithstanding the requirements of promulgation of... The Secretary shall file before the Department of State the Spanish version of said standard or amendment not later than two (2) years after the original filing date."
Section 3.-Subsections
(f) ,
(g) , and
(i) are hereby amended, subsection
(j) is eliminated, subsection ( k ) is renamed as ( j ), new subsections ( k ) and
(l) are added, and subsections
(l) ,
(m) and
(n) are renamed as
(m) ,
(n) and
(o) of Section 25 of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended, to read as follows: "(a) ...
(b) ...
(c) ...
(d) ...
(e) ...
(f) Any person who gives advance notice of any inspection to be conducted under this Act, without the authorization of the Secretary or persons designated by the latter, shall, upon conviction, be punished
by a fine of not more than five thousand $(5,000)$ dollars or by a term of imprisonment of not more than six (6) months, or both penalties.
(g) Whoever knowingly makes a false statement, representation, or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be kept pursuant to this Act, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five $(25,000)$ thousand dollars or by a term of imprisonment of not more than six (6) months, or both penalties.
(h) ...
(i) Any person who willfully resists, prevents or interferes with the Secretary, any examiner or any of his/her agents in the performances of their duties under this Act shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand $(25,000)$ dollars or by a term of imprisonment of not more than three (3) years, or both penalties.
(j) ...
(k) The Secretary is hereby empowered to direct the temporary closing for seventy-two (72) hours of a specific workplace for which a corrective action plan has been established for and not complied with, and such noncompliance, according to the Secretary's judgment, keeps the persons of the specific workplace in imminent danger. The Secretary may take measures to obtain an order from the Court of First Instance to extend the aforementioned term, until the ordered corrective action has been complied with. (1) A Special Fund for the Promotion of Occupational Health and Safety is hereby created. The Fund shall be administered by a Board constituted by the Administrator of the Corporation of the State
Insurance Fund (CFSE, Spanish acronym), who shall preside it; the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Human Resources; the Coordinator of the Industrial Hygiene Program of the Department of Environmental Health of the Public Health School of the University of Puerto Rico; two (2) representatives from of the labor sector, one of which shall be from the public sector and the other from the private sector; and two (2) representatives from the employer's sector, one of which shall be from the public sector, and the other from the private sector. The representatives from the labor and employer's sectors shall be appointed by the Governor for a term of five (5) years. The Board shall be governed based upon regulations approved by a majority of at least four (4) of the members of said Board. The Board is hereby empowered to establish, by regulations, the way in which the funds covered into the Fund shall be used. Said funds shall be used for the implementation of the provisions of this Act. Any determination as to the use of the funds shall have the vote of at least five (5) of the seven (7) members of the Board.
(m) ...
(n) Civil fines imposed under this Act shall be paid to the Secretary of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to be covered into the Special Fund created by this Act. Any civil penalty owed under this Act may be recovered in a civil action filed on behalf of the Secretary of Justice. The Court of First Instance shall have jurisdiction over all civil actions to recover the civil fines imposed under this Act. The Secretary of Justice may appear as the plaintiff in any judicial action filed to recover any civil fines under Sections 1 to 29 of this Act,
provided the Secretary of Labor does not appear as a plaintiff motu proprio.
(o) ...'
Section 5.-A new subsection
(d) is hereby added and
(d) ,
(e) ,
(f) , and
(g) are renamed as
(e) ,
(f) ,
(g) and
(h) , of Section 6 of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended, to read as follows: "(a) ...
(b) ...
(c) ...
(d) Every employer must notify the Secretary of Labor or the person designated by him/her when a serious or fatal accident takes place within eight (8) hours following the accident. The Secretary shall determine the method of notification.
(e) ...
(f) ...
(g) ...
(h) ..." Section 6.-A new clause (8) is hereby added to Section 7 of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended, to read as follows: "(8) To promote the establishment of safety committees at work places constituted by workers or labor unions, and employers." Section 7.-This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 281 (H.B. 2883) of the $4^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend subsection
(c) and add a new subsection
(l) to Section 3; to amend subsection
(b) of Section 8; to add a new subsection
(d) and rename subsections
(d) ,
(e) ,
(f) and
(g) as subsections
(e) ,
(f) ,
(g) , and
(h) , respectively, of Section 6; to add a clause 8 to Section 7; to amend subsections
(f) ,
(g) and
(i) of Section 25, eliminate subsection ( j ), and rename subsection ( k ) as ( j ), add new subsections ( k ) and (1) and rename subsections (1),
(m) and
(n) as
(m) ,
(n) and
(o) , respectively, of Act No. 16 of August 5, 1975, as amended, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $10^{ ext {th }}$ of March of 2003.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director