(a) The department shall establish and maintain an occupational lead poisoning prevention program, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Developing a system for monitoring laboratory reports of cases of adult lead toxicity, to create an occupational lead poisoning registry.
(2) Following up reported cases of occupational lead poisoning to ascertain the source of lead exposure.
(3) Conducting investigations in cases where take-home exposure may be occurring, where there is a likelihood of identifying additional cases, or where a previously unidentified risk factor may be present.
(4) Conducting training of employers, employees, and health professionals regarding prevention of occupational lead poisoning.
(5) Making recommendations for the prevention of lead poisoning.
(b) In any situation where the activities specified in subdivision (a) may duplicate or overlap the activities of any other state department or agency, including the Department of Industrial Relations, the department shall coordinate with the other departments or agency and take actions to avoid program and service duplication.
(c) As part of the department’s Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, the department shall consider a report from a laboratory of an employee’s blood lead level at or above 20 micrograms per deciliter to be injurious to the health of the employee and shall report that case within five business days of receiving the report to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
(d) The department may adopt regulations to implement this section and Sections 105190 and 105195. Any regulations adopted shall be considered and adopted as emergency regulations in accordance with Section 11346.1 of the Government Code.
(e) The employee blood lead level established by this section is not intended to supersede any lower blood lead level that may be actionable under the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s lead standards in its general industry safety order (Section 5198 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations) or construction safety order (Section 1532.1 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations). For purposes of this subdivision, an actionable employee blood lead level means a level that triggers an employer obligation to reduce lead exposure in the workplace or an investigation by the division.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 710, Sec. 1. (AB 35) Effective January 1, 2020.)