R614-1-3. Definitions

  A. "Access" means the right and opportunity to examine and copy.

  B. "Act" means the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973.

  C. "Administrator" means the director of the Division.

  D. "Amendment" means such modification or change in a code, standard, rule, or order intended for universal or general application.

  E. "Analysis using exposure or medical records" means any compilation of data, or any research, statistical or other study based at least in part on information collected from individual employee exposure or medical records or information collected from health insurance claims records, provided that either the analysis has been reported to the employer or no further work is currently being done by the person responsible for preparing the analysis.

  F. "Commission" means the Utah Labor Commission.

  G. "Days" means calendar days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The day of receipt of any notice shall not be included, and the last day of any time frame shall be included. If the last day of any time period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.

  H. "Designated representative" means any individual or organization to whom an employee gives written authorization to exercise a right of access. For the purpose of access to employee exposure records and analyses using exposure or medical records, a recognized or certified collective bargaining agent shall be treated automatically as a designated representative without regard to written employee authorization.

  I. "Division" means the Utah Occupational Safety and Health Division (UOSH) within the Commission.

  J. "Employee" includes any person suffered or permitted to work by an employer.

  1. For Medical Records: "Employee" means a current employee, a former employee, or an employee being assigned or transferred to work where there will be exposure to toxic substances or harmful physical agents. In the case of deceased or legally incapacitated employee, the employee's legal representative may directly exercise all the employee's rights under this section.

  K. "Employee exposure record" means a record containing any of the following kinds of information concerning employee exposure to toxic substances or harmful physical agents:

  1. Environmental (workplace) monitoring or measuring, including personal, area, grab, wipe, or other form of sampling, as well as related collection and analytical methodologies, calculations, and other background data relevant to interpretations of the results obtained;

  2. Biological monitoring results which directly assess the absorption of a substance or agent by body systems (e.g., the level of a chemical in the blood, urine, breath, hair, fingernails, etc.) but not including results which assess the biological effect of a substance or agent;

  3. Safety data sheets; or

  4. In the absence of the above, any other record which reveals the identity (e.g., chemical, common, or trade name) of a toxic substance or harmful physical agent.

  L. Employee medical record

  1. "Employee medical record" means a record concerning the health status of an employee which is made or maintained by a physician, nurse, or other health care personnel, or technician including:

  a. Medical and employment questionnaires or histories (including job description and occupational exposures);

  b. The results of medical examinations (pre-employment, pre-assignment, periodic, or episodic) and laboratory tests (including X-ray examinations and all biological monitoring);

  c. Medical opinions, diagnoses, progress notes, and recommendations;

  d. Descriptions of treatments and prescriptions; and

  e. Employee medical complaints.

  2. "Employee medical record" does not include the following:

  a. Physical specimens (e.g., blood or urine samples) which are routinely discarded as a part of normal medical practice, and not required to be maintained by other legal requirements;

  b. Records concerning health insurance claims if maintained separately from the employer's medical program and its records, and not accessible to the employer by employee name or other direct personal identifier (e.g., social security number, payroll number, etc.); or

  c. Records concerning voluntary employee assistance programs (alcohol, drug abuse, or personal counseling programs) if maintained separately from the employer's medical program and its records.

  M. "Employer" means:

  1. The state;

  2. Each county, city, town, and school district in the state; and

  3. Every person, firm, and private corporation, including public utilities, having one or more workers or operatives regularly employed in the same business, or in or about the same establishment, under any contract of hire.

  4. For medical records: "Employer" means a current employer, a former employer, or a successor employer.

  N. "Establishment" means a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. (For example: A factory, mill, store, hotel, restaurant, movie theater, farm, ranch, bank, sales office, warehouse, or central administrative office.) Where distinctly separate activities are performed at a single physical location (such as contract construction activities from the same physical location as a lumber yard), each activity shall be treated as a separate physical establishment, and separate notices shall be posted in each establishment to the extent that such notices have been furnished by the Administrator.

  O. "Exposure" or "exposed" means that an employee is subjected to a toxic substance or harmful physical agent in the course of employment through any route of entry (inhalation, ingestion, skin contact or absorption, etc.) and includes past exposure and potential (e.g., accidental or possible) exposure, but does not include situations where the employer can demonstrate that the toxic substance or harmful physical agent is not used, handled, stored, generated, or present in the workplace in any manner different from typical non-occupational situations.

  P. "Hearing" means a proceeding conducted by the commission.

  Q. "Imminent danger" means a danger exists which reasonably could be expected to cause an occupational disease, death, or serious physical harm immediately, or before the danger could be eliminated through enforcement procedures under this chapter.

  R. "Inspection" means any inspection of an employer's factory, plant, establishment, construction site, or other area, workplace or environment where work is performed by an employee of an employer, and includes any inspection conducted pursuant to a complaint filed under R614-1-6.K.1. and 3., any re-inspection, follow-up inspection, accident investigation or other inspection conducted under Section 34A-6-301 of the Act.

  S. "National consensus standard" means any occupational safety and health standard or modification:

  1. Adopted by a nationally recognized standards-producing organization under procedures where it can be determined by the administrator and division that persons interested and affected by the standard have reached substantial agreement on its adoption;

  2. Formulated in a manner which affords an opportunity for diverse views to be considered; and

  3. Designated as such a standard by the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor.

  T. "Person" means the general public, one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, receivers, and the state and its political subdivisions.

  U. "Publish" means publication in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.

  V. "Record" means any item, collection, or grouping of information regardless of the form or process by which it is maintained (e.g., paper document, microfiche, microfilm, X-ray film, or automated data processing.)

  W. "Safety and Health Officer" means a person authorized by the Division to conduct inspections.

  X. "Secretary" means the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor.

  Y. "Specific written consent" means written authorization containing the following:

  1. The name and signature of the employee authorizing the release of medical information;

  2. The date of the written authorization;

  3. The name of the individual or organization that is authorized to release the medical information;

  4. The name of the designated representative (individual or organization) that is authorized to receive the released information;

  5. A general description of the medical information that is authorized to be released;

  6. A general description of the purpose for the release of medical information; and

  7. A date or condition upon which the written authorization will expire (if less than one year).

  8. A written authorization does not operate to authorize the release of medical information not in existence on the date of written authorization, unless this is expressly authorized, and does not operate for more than one year from the date of written authorization.

  9. A written authorization may be revoked in writing prospectively at any time.

  Z. "Standard" means an occupational health and safety standard or group of standards which requires conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes, reasonably necessary to provide safety and healthful employment and places of employment.

  AA. "Toxic substance" or "harmful physical agent" means any chemical substance, biological agent (bacteria, virus, fungus, etc.) or physical stress (noise, heat, cold, vibration, repetitive motion, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, hypo and hyperbaric pressure, etc) which:

  1. Is regulated by any Federal law or rule due to a hazard to health;

  2. Is listed in the latest printed edition of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS) (See R614-1-12B);

  3. Has yielded positive evidence of an acute or chronic health hazard in human, animal, or other biological testing conducted by, or known to the employer; or

  4. Has a material safety data sheet available to the employer indicating that the material may pose a hazard to human health.

  BB. "Variance" means a special, limited modification or change in the code or standard applicable to the particular establishment of the employer or person petitioning for the modification or change.

  CC. "Workplace" means any place of employment.