24.30.2558    WAIVER OF SAFETY COMMITTEE REQUIREMENTS FOR PLAN NO. 2 AND PLAN NO. 3 EMPLOYERS

(1) Any plan no. 2 or plan no. 3 employer that is subject to the requirement of having a safety committee may request a waiver of that requirement from the insurer that provides the employer with workers' compensation insurance.

(2) An insurer may grant a waiver of the safety committee requirement to an employer for one year, which may be renewed, if the employer provides to the insurer sufficient evidence of the following:

(a) an effective written safety plan that complies with the provisions of the Montana Safety Culture Act and the rules implementing the Act, including documentary evidence of employee participation in the safety program; and

(b) (i) a satisfactory experience modification factor, not greater than .87, if the employer has an experience modification factor established. The experience modification factors must be calculated in substantial accordance with the methodology used by the workers' compensation advisory organization designated pursuant to 33-16-1023 , MCA; or

(ii) a low incident of workplace injuries. If the employer does not have an experience modification factor established, a low incidence of workplace injuries is demonstrated by a 3-year average lost workday incidence rate for occupational injuries and illnesses that is not greater than 55% of the current average incidence rate for Montana entities with the same 2-digit sic code.

(3) An insurer may uniformly require stricter standards or additional safety-related criteria from its insureds as a condition of granting a waiver of the safety committee requirement. An insurer may also refuse to grant any waivers, if such refusal is uniformly applied to all of the insurer's insureds.

(4) Disputes between an insurer and an employer concerning the granting or denial of a waiver must be resolved in the manner provided by the insurance contract for resolution of disputes.

History: Sec. 39-71-1505 MCA; IMP, Sec. 39-71-1505 MCA; NEW, 1996 MAR p. 445, Eff. 2/10/96.