The division shall, upon request, provide a full range of occupational safety and health consulting services to any employer or employee group. These consulting services shall include:

(a) A program for identifying categories of occupational safety and health hazards causing the greatest number and most serious preventable injuries and illnesses and workers’ compensation losses and the places of employment where they are occurring. The hazards, industries, and places of employment shall be identified from the data system that is used in the targeted inspection program pursuant to Section 6314.1. The division shall develop procedures for offering consultation services to high hazard employers who are identified pursuant to this section. The services may include the development of educational material and procedures for reducing or eliminating safety and health hazards, conducting workplace surveys to identify health and safety problems, and development of plans to improve employer health and safety loss records.

The program shall include a component for reducing the number of work-related, repetitive motion injuries, including, but not limited to, back injuries. The division may formulate recommendations for reducing repetitive motion injuries after conducting a survey of the workplace of the employer who accepts services of the division. The recommendations shall include, wherever appropriate, the application of generally accepted ergonomic and engineering principles to eliminate repetitive motions that are generally expected to result in injuries to workers. The recommendations shall also include, wherever appropriate, training programs to instruct workers in methods for performing job-related movements, such as lifting heavy objects, in a manner that minimizes strain and provides safeguards against injury.

The division shall establish model injury and illness prevention training programs to prevent repetitive motion injuries, including recommendations for the minimum qualifications of instructors. The model programs shall be made available to employers, employer associations, workers’ compensation insurers, and employee organizations on request.

(b) A program for providing assistance in the development of injury prevention programs for employees and employers. The highest priority for the division’s consulting services shall be given to development of these programs for businesses with fewer than 250 employees in industries identified in the regional plans developed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 6314.1.

(c) A program for providing employers or employees with information, advice, and recommendations on maintaining safe employment or place of employment, and on applicable occupational safety and health standards, techniques, devices, methods, practices, or programs.

(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 903, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1996.)