Title XXIII, Labor

No person shall remove, displace, damage or carry off any safety device or safeguard furnished and provided for use in any employment or place of employment so as to interfere with the intended use thereof, or interfere in any way with the use thereof by any other person, and no …

The labor commissioner shall cause all places of employment subject to this law to be inspected at intervals to be determined by him, for the purpose of determining whether the provisions of this chapter have been complied with and the conditions therein with respect to the safet…

Any employee may petition the commissioner to inspect any place of employment in which the employee is employed for the purpose of determining whether the employer has violated any of the provisions of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter. Upon receipt of such petitio…

A report of such inspection shall be filed in the office of the commissioner and a copy thereof given the employer.

The commissioner, factory inspectors and other assistants of the commissioner shall have the right to enter any such place of employment and to examine the same for the purposes of this chapter.

In the case of a workplace incident resulting in a serious injury or death involving the state, a state agency, a county, a municipality or municipal agency, a school district, or other public corporation or political subdivision, the commissioner of labor, or his or her designee…

I. Every employer shall report the death of any person in the workplace or on the workplace premises within 8 hours of such occurrence to the commissioner of the department of labor by telephone or electronically, stating as fully as possible the cause of the death and the place …

I. The commissioner of labor shall adopt such rules, under RSA 541-A, as he deems reasonable and necessary in order to carry out properly the provisions of RSA 277:10 and 277:11. II. Prior to January 1, 1987, the commissioner of labor shall present proposed legislation containing…

Whenever the commissioner, after any place of employment subject to this chapter shall have been inspected in accordance with RSA 277:13, shall be of the opinion that the special conditions in that place of employment render the standards inadequate or unreasonable, as applied to…

Whenever, after inspection as provided in RSA 277:13, the commissioner shall be of the opinion that compliance with the standards, under the special conditions obtaining in any place of employment, necessitates the use of any safeguard, or the doing of any other act for which the…

A person employing or directing another to perform labor of any kind in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure shall furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected for the performance of such labor, scaffold…

Every order made by the commissioner shall fix the time when it shall take effect, and in every case a reasonable time shall be allowed to the employer affected thereby for compliance with the order.

Notice shall be given by certified mail of every order to those who are required to comply with the order. Notice of any such order of general application may be given by publication in some newspaper having circulation throughout the state.

The commissioner shall provide occupational health and safety services to public and private employers, and shall consult with the commissioner of the department of health and human services relative to the implementation of occupational health unit programs authorized by RSA 125…

For the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this chapter the commissioner shall have power to administer oaths, certify to official acts, issue subpoenas and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, documents and testimony.

The deposition of any witness within or without the state, taken in the manner prescribed by law for depositions in civil actions, may be used in any proceeding for review or appeal.

The commissioner shall keep a complete record of all orders, rules or regulations made and adopted by him.

Any employer affected by such order, rule or regulation may petition the commissioner for a review of the validity or reasonableness thereof. The commissioner may join in one proceeding all petitions alleging invalidity or unreasonableness of the same or substantially similar ord…

Upon receipt of the petition the commissioner shall, if necessary to determine the issue raised, order a hearing. Notice of the time and place of hearing, which shall be open to the public, shall be given to the petitioner and to such other persons as the commissioner may find to…

If, upon such hearing, the commissioner finds that the order, rule or regulation complained of is invalid or unreasonable he shall revoke it, or substitute therefor a new or amended one.

The decision of the commissioner upon such petition shall be final unless appeal is taken in the manner herein provided.

Any employer aggrieved by any order, rule or regulation of the commissioner may file a petition in the superior court against the commissioner to determine the validity and reasonableness thereof. Such petition shall be filed within 30 days after notice of the adoption of the ord…

Scaffolding or staging more than 14 feet from the ground or floor, swung or suspended from an overhead support or erected with stationary supports, except scaffolding wholly within the interior of a building and covering the entire floor space of any room therein, shall have a sa…

Such notice shall be given to the commissioner of the pendency of such proceedings as the superior court may order. Such petition, so far as practicable, shall have precedence over other actions in the same court, and the order appealed from shall be prima facie valid and reasona…

The court may, and on the request of the parties shall, refer any issues arising in such action to one or more persons, who shall find and report the facts, together with his or their recommendations, to the court. One or more of such persons may be a layman conversant with the s…

During the pendency of any petition for review, the order, rule or regulation under review shall be suspended, and during the pendency of an appeal to the superior court, it may be suspended by the superior court if justice requires. Except as herein provided, every order, rule o…

For the purpose of inspecting establishments subject to this chapter, the commissioner may employ competent persons who shall be known as inspectors, one of whom shall be a woman, and shall fix their compensation in accordance with the state personnel regulations and within the l…

The commissioner may employ such other assistants and clerical employees as may be necessary to the proper discharge of his duties.

No prosecution against any employer shall be commenced under this chapter until the commissioner shall have made an order in accordance with the provisions hereof, and the employer affected thereby shall have had a reasonable opportunity to comply therewith.

If an employer retaliates or takes any action against an employee who exercises his rights under this chapter, the employee may petition the commissioner for a review of the employer's action. The commissioner shall hold a hearing pursuant to RSA 277:25. The commissioner may orde…

I. Any employer who does not comply with any lawful order or rule made under this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if a natural person or guilty of a felony if any other person. II. Any person who willfully violates RSA 277:12 shall be guilty of a violation if a natural p…

Every employer subject to the provisions of RSA 277 shall immediately send to the commissioner a statement setting forth his name, address, business and approximate number of employees. Any employer wilfully neglecting to comply with the provisions of this section shall be guilty…

It shall be the duty of the commissioner to administer and enforce, so far as not otherwise provided for, all laws relating to factories, workshops, commercial and mercantile establishments, and all valid orders, rules or regulations.

All scaffolding shall be so constructed as to bear 4 times the maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom or placed thereon when in use.

The labor commissioner shall immediately inspect a scaffold, ladder, or device concerning which complaint is made. He shall attach to every scaffold, ladder, or device that he inspects a certificate stating that he has made the inspection and has found the same safe or unsafe as …

I. Any person signing a contract to work on a construction, reconstruction, alteration, remodeling, installation, demolition, maintenance, or repair of any public work or building by a state agency, municipality, or instrumentality thereof, and with a total project cost of $100,0…

Every employer shall at all times keep and maintain, free of expense to the employees, such a medical and surgical chest as shall be required by the local board of health of the city or town, containing plasters, bandages, absorbent cotton, gauze and all other necessary medicines…

Whoever violates RSA 277:6 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if a natural person, or guilty of a felony if any other person. Each week during which such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.