PART Q

Sec. Q-1. 26 MRSA §51, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1991, c. 93, §2, is further amended to read:

2. Duties. The commission shall conduct studies and hold public meetings as necessary to develop findings and recommendations respecting each of the following issues:

A. Evaluation of the effectiveness of current worker safety efforts, practices and programs in the State and the attitudes of employers and workers toward safety;

B. Identification of the best-practice safety programs in the State and elsewhere, whose widespread adoption would reduce the incidence, severity and cost of workplace accidents and illnesses;

C. Identification of emerging occupational safety and health issues that will be of importance in the future and assessment of their policy implications; and

D. Determination of existing statistical information on accidents and illnesses and reliability and adequacy to monitor trends and to support effective safety rehabilitation and compensation programs.

The commission shall also review occupational safety loan requests as provided for in section 63.

Sec. Q-2. 26 MRSA §62, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. O, §1, is repealed.

Sec. Q-3. 26 MRSA §63, as amended by PL 2003, c. 451, Pt. O, §§2 and 3, is repealed.

Sec. Q-4. 39-A MRSA §401, sub-§5, ¶D, as enacted by PL 1991, c. 885, Pt. A, §8 and affected by §§9 to 11, is amended to read:

D. The Department of Labor shall notify the Superintendent of Insurance of any employer that fails to complete the workplace health and safety program as required by this