Labor committee narrows HB 303 to electrical safety; amendment adopted, full bill split 9-9 and sent to interim study 17-1

The New Hampshire House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee on the retained bill HB 303 narrowed the measure to require the Department of Labor to adopt workplace electrical-safety rules at a level "at least as effective as" OSHA's 29 CFR 1910 Subpart S. The committee approved the amendment to narrow the bill, but split 9-9 on the committee's recommendation that the bill "ought to pass as amended" and then voted 17-1 to send the measure to interim study.

Representative Joe Sullivan, the member who introduced the revised language, told the committee the amendment (2025-3002H) eliminates the earlier, broader proposal to adopt standards across the full OSHA 1910 book and instead directs the Department of Labor to focus on electrical safety. "This amendment takes 1 small section of the standards ... only subsection S deals with electrical safety," Sullivan said, adding the department would write rules that are "at least as effective" as the OSHA provision but phrased in clearer language for New Hampshire employers and employees.

Deputy Commissioner Daniel Albert of the New Hampshire Department of Labor told the committee the department had reviewed the amendment and could implement electrical-safety rules but warned rulemaking can be lengthy. "It can take up to a year, maybe a little…