Legislature(1995 - 1996)
01/24/1996 03:12 PM House L&C
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 311 - REPEAL LIMIT ON HOURS EMPLOYED IN MINES Number 1282 CHAIRMAN KOTT announced the committee would hear HB 311. He pointed out the measure is sponsored by Representative Vezey. Chairman Kott said it is his intent to allow for opening remarks by Representative Vezey. There will be no testimony. He said there are a couple issues that are being worked on. The bill will be back before the committee within two weeks at which point it will be moved to the Judiciary Committee. REPRESENTATIVE AL VEZEY, sponsor of HB 311, "An Act repealing the limitation on the hours a person may be employed in a mine; and making a related technical amendment to avoid changing the penalties for failing to make payments into an employee benefit fund," addressed the bill. He explained what is being addressed is the statute deals with a law that limits the number of hours in a 24-hour period that a person can work in an underground mine. This law was one of the first laws passed by the Territory of Alaska when it formed the Territorial Legislature in 1913. It was carried over into the ACLA in 1949. Representative Vezey noted he wasn't sure what ACLA stands for but something like the Alaska Code of Legislative Acts. It was also carried into Alaska statutes at the time of statehood. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY explained in 1913 when the bill was passed, mining was a very big industry and a very hazardous occupation. We didn't have wage and hour laws which currently exist. We didn't have the occupational safety and health standards that currently exist. The equipment, by today's standards, was primitive in terms of it being adapted to workmen and whatnot. The environment was extremely hazardous. Representative Vezey said it is unbelievable how bad it can be to work in a confined space. You can't imagine what it's like to be working with air driven tools in a space that does not have adequate ventilation. At that time, it was a nationally recognized problem that serious health problems existed. A disease called "silicosis" existed which is similar to black lung. It is a very serious debilitating injury. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY explained in 1913, the state passed this law which had two effects. One was safety, in that the people were not exposed to the workplace environment as long as they were. He said 10-hour days was the industry standard, in Alaska, at that time. It also had the affect of giving a pay raise. They didn't have wage and hour laws in 1913. People were paid by the day. He noted in the committee member's folders there is a copy of a report titled, "Report of the Territorial Mine Inspector to the Governor of Alaska for the Year 1917." The report discusses the daily wage rates, etc. He noted that after the 8-hour day went into effect in 1913, the state adopted a general 8-hour day in 1917, because the idea of the 8-hour day was getting popular. The mining industry went through a unbelievable number of adaptations in almost a century as this happened almost that long ago. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY explained today, we have gotten to a point where government agencies are even encouraging companies to go to longer shifts and to give the employees flexibility in their hours so that they can work more hours in a day and have longer weekends at home. It is very interesting to note that if you look at the ten leading mining states in the nation, only two have a number of restrictions on the number of hours that personnel can work underground. One is Alaska, which has an 8-hour law. The other is California which also has an 8-hour law except you can, by permit, receive an exemption for a 12-hour day. Colorado also has a permit system where you can work more than eight hours a day but there are no limits to the number of hours that you can get a permit for. You just have to get the permit approved. Representative Vezey referred to the other seven leading mining states not having any sort of restrictions on the number of hours that can be worked underground. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY said in 1992, the U.S. Department of the Interior, under Secretary Bruce Babbitt, did a study that compared 8-hour shifts and underground mines to 12-hour shifts in underground mines. The conclusion was that the 12-hour shift was not a safety hazard and it did contribute to the quality of the job as perceived by the employees. About 97 percent actually preferred it. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY referred to the safety aspect and explained the mining industry in Alaska has a measured accident rate of 1.9. That is down from two a year or two ago. That means there are two loss time accidents for every 100 man years of employment. He noted 200,000 man hours are classified as a man year. This is among the lowest of any industry in Alaska and is way below the industry standards for the U.S. By comparison in Alaska, the construction industry in total has a loss time accident rate of 5.6. So mining is nearly three times as safe as is the construction industry as a whole. Representative Vezey said studies have determined that there are two most important aspects of on the job safety. One is the continuity of employment. Employees who are on the job on a steady basis are much less likely to have an accident than employees that come and go. The other factor is overall worker satisfaction with their job. That has a very measurable significant impact on overall job safety. He noted those things seem to go hand in hand with working longer shifts and having longer weekends so the workers have more time with their families. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY said the concept of trying to repeal or modify this law has been around for many years. It is interesting to note that former Juneau Mayor Jamie Parsons endorsed modifying this act. Current Fairbanks Mayor Jim Sampson and former commissioner of the Department of Labor, endorsed modifying it at one time. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY read from a 1987 letter in the committee member's folders from Virgil A. Cain, Supervisor, Mine Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Labor, Rocky Mountain Region: "This letter deals with the working hours of the employees. About five year ago, one large mine in my area changed from the eight hours a day, five days a week with two days off to a four day a week, ten hours a day. On the eight hours a day, five days a week, the company had quite a few lost time accidents. After the change to ten hour shifts, four days a week, this company went five months without any accidents and compiled one of the best mining accident records for its size of any mine I have ever had any dealings with. "Just recently this same mine under new management went back to a eight hour day, five days a week and the lost time accidents increased five to six hundred percent." REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY noted there is also a report from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, "Underground Work Days in an Underground Mine - A Workplace Performance Analysis." He explained the report reiterates that there are a lot of advantages to a longer work day. Representative Vezey said we have to look at those states that do have a viable mining industry. Alaska mining industry has doubled in the last ten years. There is no practical limit on how big it can get. We have the geology and the area. It is a question of the environment that we can create to attract a caval. He reiterated that of the states that have a viable mining industry, only two have any restrictions on the hours people can work in underground mines and they restrict that by permit. It is not a flat 8-hour restriction. Representative Vezey explained there are only three states in the U.S. that have an 8-hour limit. He noted two are Alaska and Montana. Number 1823 CHAIRMAN KOTT referred to the states that have gone to something other than an 8-hour day and asked if there is a trend as to what they seem to be following on the average. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY said the trend seems to be to repeal it or to not have one at all. There are probably six or eight states that have a permitting process where you have to apply for more than an 8-hour day. California has a maximum of 12 hours. The other states have no maximum on that permit process. Number 1898 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER noted that there isn't this 8-hour restriction in Alaska for digging a tunnel but there is for mining in the tunnel. REPRESENTATIVE VEZEY said that is correct. This only applies to mining and has never been applied to tunnel. The Whittier Tunnel, Bradley Lake Tunnel and the Snettisham Tunnel were all constructed without the 8-hour restriction. CHAIRMAN KOTT said it is the intent to hold the bill in committee to allow all the parties that are interested in the measure to develop their discourse. REPRESENTATIVE ROKEBERG asked if there was a problem with the bill. CHAIRMAN KOTT said there is not a problem, but there are some entities that are trying to work behind the scenes to try to finalize the numbers. He said he would assume that at some point there is a break point where it does become hazardous. He said he could envision working three 16-hour days, eight hours overtime, could be a tough haul after the second day. CHAIRMAN KOTT asked Representative Porter if police departments allow 16-hour days. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER answered they do. Number 1982 REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA asked if overtime laws would come into effect after eight hours. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER said a 10-hour shift is an acceptable alternative to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) retirements for overtime after eight hours if your working 40 hours a week. REPRESENTATIVE SANDERS said he envisions there would be a lot of variation from mine to mine. He said he would rather endorse applying for an exception by certain mines. If the regulation is just eliminated, there might be some danger in some of the mines. CHAIRMAN KOTT said the committee would take public testimony at another meeting on the issue. CHAIRMAN KOTT stated there has been request to hold HB 319 over until the following week.
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