As Passed by the House                        1            

123rd General Assembly                                             4            

   Regular Session                            Sub. H. B. No. 122   5            

      1999-2000                                                    6            


     REPRESENTATIVES CATES-CORBIN-EVANS-HAINES-HOOD-MOTTLEY-       8            

       OLMAN-TIBERI-VAN VYVEN-VESPER-WILLAMOWSKI-COUGHLIN-         9            

    WILLIAMS-BUEHRER-YOUNG-HARRIS-HOOD-TERWILLEGER-CALLENDER-      10           

           BUCHY-DAMSCHRODER-WIDENER-AUSTRIA-JACOBSON              11           


_________________________________________________________________   12           

                          A   B I L L                                           

             To amend section 4123.54 of the Revised Code to       13           

                provide a rebuttable presumption that the          14           

                proximate cause of an injury of an employee, who,  15           

                through a blood, breath, or urine test, tests      16           

                positive for the use of alcohol or a controlled    18           

                substance not prescribed by a physician, is the    19           

                alcohol or controlled substance.                   21           




BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:        23           

      Section 1.  That section 4123.54 of the Revised Code be      25           

amended to read as follows:                                        26           

      Sec. 4123.54.  (A)  Every employee, who is injured or who    35           

contracts an occupational disease, and the dependents of each      36           

employee who is killed, or dies as the result of an occupational   37           

disease contracted in the course of employment, wherever such      38           

injury has occurred or occupational disease has been contracted,   39           

provided the same were not:                                        40           

      (A)(1)  Purposely self-inflicted; or                         42           

      (B)(2)  Caused by the employee being intoxicated or under    44           

the influence of a controlled substance not prescribed by a        45           

physician where the intoxication or being under the influence of   46           

the controlled substance not prescribed by a physician was the     47           

proximate cause of the injury, is entitled to receive, either      48           

directly from his THE EMPLOYEE'S self-insuring employer as         49           

                                                          2      


                                                                 
provided in section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, or from the       51           

state insurance fund, the compensation for loss sustained on       52           

account of the injury, occupational disease, or death, and the     53           

medical, nurse, and hospital services and medicines, and the       54           

amount of funeral expenses in case of death, as are provided by    55           

this chapter.                                                                   

      (B)  FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION, THERE IS A REBUTTABLE  58           

PRESUMPTION THAT AN EMPLOYEE IS INTOXICATED OR UNDER THE           59           

INFLUENCE OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE NOT PRESCRIBED BY A PHYSICIAN  60           

AND THAT BEING INTOXICATED OR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A CONTROLLED  61           

SUBSTANCE NOT PRESCRIBED BY A PHYSICIAN IS THE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF  62           

AN INJURY WHEN ANY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING IS TRUE:           63           

      (1)  THE EMPLOYEE, THROUGH A CHEMICAL TEST ADMINISTERED      65           

WITHIN EIGHT HOURS OF AN INJURY, IS DETERMINED TO HAVE AN ALCOHOL  66           

CONCENTRATION LEVEL EQUAL TO OR IN EXCESS OF THE LEVELS            67           

ESTABLISHED IN DIVISIONS (A)(2) TO (7) OF SECTION 4511.19 OF THE   68           

REVISED CODE;                                                      69           

      (2)  THE EMPLOYEE, THROUGH A CHEMICAL TEST ADMINISTERED      71           

WITHIN THIRTY-TWO HOURS OF AN INJURY, IS DETERMINED TO HAVE ONE    72           

OF THE FOLLOWING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES NOT PRESCRIBED BY THE       73           

EMPLOYEE'S PHYSICIAN IN THE EMPLOYEE'S SYSTEM THAT TESTS ABOVE     74           

THE FOLLOWING LEVELS IN AN ENZYME MULTIPLIED IMMUNOASSAY           75           

TECHNIQUE SCREENING TEST AND ABOVE THE LEVELS ESTABLISHED IN       76           

DIVISION (B)(3) OF THIS SECTION IN A GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS       77           

SPECTROMETRY TEST:                                                              

      (a)  FOR AMPHETAMINES, ONE THOUSAND NANOGRAMS PER            79           

MILLILITER OF URINE;                                               80           

      (b)  FOR CANNABINOIDS, FIFTY NANOGRAMS PER MILLILITER OF     82           

URINE;                                                             83           

      (c)  FOR COCAINE, INCLUDING CRACK COCAINE, THREE HUNDRED     85           

NANOGRAMS PER MILLILITER OF URINE;                                 87           

      (d)  FOR OPIATES, TWO THOUSAND NANOGRAMS PER MILLILITER OF   89           

URINE;                                                             90           

      (e)  FOR PHENCYCLIDINE, TWENTY-FIVE NANOGRAMS PER            92           

                                                          3      


                                                                 
MILLILITER OF URINE.                                               93           

      (3)  THE EMPLOYEE, THROUGH A CHEMICAL TEST ADMINISTERED      95           

WITHIN THIRTY-TWO HOURS OF AN INJURY, IS DETERMINED TO HAVE ONE    96           

OF THE FOLLOWING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES NOT PRESCRIBED BY THE       97           

EMPLOYEE'S PHYSICIAN IN THE EMPLOYEE'S SYSTEM THAT TESTS ABOVE     98           

THE FOLLOWING LEVELS BY A GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETRY     99           

TEST:                                                                           

      (a)  FOR AMPHETAMINES, FIVE HUNDRED NANOGRAMS PER            101          

MILLILITER OF URINE;                                               102          

      (b)  FOR CANNABINOIDS, FIFTEEN NANOGRAMS PER MILLILITER OF   104          

URINE;                                                             105          

      (c)  FOR COCAINE, INCLUDING CRACK COCAINE, ONE HUNDRED       107          

FIFTY NANOGRAMS PER MILLILITER OF URINE;                           108          

      (d)  FOR OPIATES, TWO THOUSAND NANOGRAMS PER MILLILITER OF   110          

URINE;                                                             111          

      (e)  FOR PHENCYCLIDINE, TWENTY-FIVE NANOGRAMS PER            113          

MILLILITER OF URINE.                                               114          

      (4)  THE EMPLOYEE, THROUGH A CHEMICAL TEST ADMINISTERED      116          

WITHIN THIRTY-TWO HOURS OF AN INJURY, IS DETERMINED TO HAVE        117          

BARBITURATES, BENZODIAZEPINES, METHADONE, OR PROPOXYPHENE IN THE   118          

EMPLOYEE'S SYSTEM THAT TESTS ABOVE LEVELS ESTABLISHED BY           119          

LABORATORIES CERTIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH   120          

AND HUMAN SERVICES.                                                             

      (5)  THE EMPLOYEE REFUSES TO SUBMIT TO A REQUESTED CHEMICAL  122          

TEST.                                                                           

      Whenever, with respect to an employee of an employer who is  124          

subject to and has complied with this chapter, there is            125          

possibility of conflict with respect to the application of         126          

workers' compensation laws because the contract of employment is   127          

entered into and all or some portion of the work is or is to be    128          

performed in a state or states other than Ohio, the employer and   129          

the employee may agree to be bound by the laws of this state or    130          

by the laws of some other state in which all or some portion of    131          

the work of the employee is to be performed.  The agreement shall  132          

                                                          4      


                                                                 
be in writing and shall be filed with the bureau of workers'       133          

compensation within ten days after it is executed and shall        134          

remain in force until terminated or modified by agreement of the   135          

parties similarly filed.  If the agreement is to be bound by the   136          

laws of this state and the employer has complied with this         137          

chapter, then the employee is entitled to compensation and         138          

benefits regardless of where the injury occurs or the disease is   139          

contracted and the rights of the employee and his THE EMPLOYEE'S   140          

dependents under the laws of this state are the exclusive remedy   142          

against the employer on account of injury, disease, or death in    143          

the course of and arising out of his THE EMPLOYEE'S employment.    144          

If the agreement is to be bound by the laws of another state and   146          

the employer has complied with the laws of that state, the rights  147          

of the employee and his THE EMPLOYEE'S dependents under the laws   149          

of that state are the exclusive remedy against the employer on     150          

account of injury, disease, or death in the course of and arising  151          

out of his THE EMPLOYEE'S employment without regard to the place   154          

where the injury was sustained or the disease contracted.          155          

      If any employee or his THE EMPLOYEE'S dependents are         157          

awarded workers' compensation benefits or recover damages from     159          

the employer under the laws of another state, the amount awarded   160          

or recovered, whether paid or to be paid in future installments,   161          

shall be credited on the amount of any award of compensation or    162          

benefits made to the employee or his THE EMPLOYEE'S dependents by  163          

the bureau.                                                        164          

      If an employee is a resident of a state other than this      166          

state and is insured under the workers' compensation law or        167          

similar laws of a state other than this state, the employee and    168          

his THE EMPLOYEE'S dependents are not entitled to receive          169          

compensation or benefits under this chapter, on account of         171          

injury, disease, or death arising out of or in the course of       172          

employment while temporarily within this state, and the rights of  173          

the employee and his THE EMPLOYEE'S dependents under the laws of   174          

the other state are the exclusive remedy against the employer on   175          

                                                          5      


                                                                 
account of the injury, disease, or death.                          176          

      Compensation or benefits are not payable to a claimant       178          

during the period of confinement of the claimant in any state or   179          

federal correctional institution whether in this or any other      180          

state for conviction of violation of any state or federal          181          

criminal law.                                                                   

      Section 2.  That existing section 4123.54 of the Revised     183          

Code is hereby repealed.                                           184