SB 6213 — Addressing the presumption of occupational disease for purposes of workers' compensation by adding medical conditions to the presumption and extending the presumption to certain publicly employed firefighters and investigators and law enforcement.

S-3669.1SENATEENGROSSED SENATE BILL 6213State of Washington65th Legislature2018 Regular SessionBy Senators Ranker, Conway, Hobbs, Keiser, Van De Wege, Palumbo, Hasegawa, Saldaña, Hunt, Walsh, Kuderer, Wellman, and FortunatoRead first time 01/10/18.

(((b))) (ii) any heart problemsproblems, or strokes, experienced within seventy-two hours of exposure to smoke, fumes, or toxic substances, or experienced within twenty-four hours of strenuous physical exertion due to firefighting activities;

(i) Any heart problemsproblems, or strokes, experienced within seventy-two hours of exposure to smoke, fumes, or toxic substances, or experienced within twenty-four hours of strenuous physical exertion in the line of duty;

and ((who))(ii)(A) SubjectWas to (a)(ii)(B) of this subsection, was given a qualifying medical examination upon becoming a firefighter or fire investigator that showed no evidence of cancer.cancer;

((Theor(B)(I) presumptionFor within subsection (1)(c) of this section shall only apply to)) (B) If a firefighter asor definedfire ininvestigator RCW 41.26.030(16)(h) who became a firefighter before July 1, 2018, or fire investigator whoon becameor aafter firethe investigatoreffective beforedate Julyof 1,this 2018,section, the employer did not receiveprovide a qualifying medical examination upon becoming a firefighter or fire investigator,investigator; the firefighter or fire investigator satisfies the qualifying medical examination requirement if the firefighter or fire investigator received a qualifying medical examination on or before July 1, 2019.

Inor(II) addition,For ifa the firefighter or fire investigator iswho diagnosedbecame with a cancerfirefighter listedor infire (b)investigator ofbefore this subsection at the timeeffective date of thethis qualifyingsection, medical examination and otherwise meets the requirementsemployer ofdid thisnot section,provide thea presumptionqualifying establishedmedical inexamination subsectionupon (1)(a)(iii)becoming ofa thisfirefighter sectionor applies.(b)fire Theinvestigator presumptionand establishedthe inemployer subsectionprovides (1)(a)(iii)a ofqualifying thismedical sectionexamination shallon onlyor applybefore toJuly the1, following2019. cancers:

If a firefighter or fire investigator described in this subsection (3)(a)(ii)(B)(II) did not receive a qualifying medical examination before July 1, 2019, or is diagnosed with a cancer listed in (b) of this subsection at the time of the qualifying medical examination under this subsection (3)(a)(ii)(B)(II) and otherwise meets the requirements of this section, the presumption established in subsection (1)(a)(iii) of this section applies.

((The presumption within subsection (1)(c) of this section shall only apply to)) (b) The presumption established in subsection (1)(a)(iii) of this section shall only apply to the following cancers:

The department, using existing medical research, shall define in rule the extent of tobacco use that shall exclude a firefighter, fire investigator, or law enforcement officer from the provisions of this section.(6) For purposes of this section, "firefighting activities" means fire suppression, fire prevention, fire investigation, emergency medical services, rescue operations, hazardous materials response, aircraft rescue, and training and other assigned duties related to emergency response.(7)(a) When a determination involving the presumption established in this section is appealed to the board of industrial insurance appeals and the final decision allows the claim for benefits, the board of industrial insurance appeals shall order that all reasonable costs of the appeal, including attorney fees and witness fees, be paid to the firefighter, fire investigator, or law enforcement officer or his or her beneficiary by the opposing party.(b) When a determination involving the presumption established in this section is appealed to any court and the final decision allows the claim for benefits, the court shall order that all reasonable costs of the appeal, including attorney fees and witness fees, be paid to the firefighter, fire investigator, or law enforcement officer or his or her beneficiary by the opposing party.(c) When reasonable costs of the appeal must be paid by the department under this section in a state fund case, the costs shall be paid from the accident fund and charged to the costs of the claim.---claim.(8)(a) ENDBy ---July 1, 2018, the department of labor and industries must convene a work group to discuss policy and procedural options for amending the first responder occupations and occupational diseases included in RCW 51.32.185.

The work group must consider the following list of topics including, but not limited to:(i) The process for adding new first responder occupations and occupational diseases to RCW 51.32.185;

and(ii) The establishment of procedures to gather, evaluate, and accept or reject data necessary to inform stakeholder recommendations and policymaker decisions for amending the first responder occupations and occupational diseases covered in RCW 51.32.185.(b) The work group must include representatives of state fund employers, self-insured employers, and worker advocates along with public health professionals in the disciplines of occupational medicine, epidemiology, and industrial hygiene.(c) By December 1, 2019, the work group must provide a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature.

The report must include a description of the work group deliberations and any consensus recommendations for legislation or rule making.(d) The work group expires upon completion of the report to the legislature.--- END ---