STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3212

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2324

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Technology, to which was referred H.B. No. 2324, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH LAW,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Repeal the requirement that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations regulate hoisting machines and certify their operators and the Hoisting Machine Operators Advisory Board, including its rules requiring a separate state crane operator certificate; and

(2) Allow additional time for the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations to complete an investigation of a discharge or discrimination complaint pertaining to employees exercising rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Law without formal extension.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Your Committee finds that the Hoisting Machine Operators Advisory Board administers a separate crane operator certification, which is now duplicative of the national crane operator certification requirements established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as these federal standards already ensure operator competency and workplace safety. Your Committee further finds that the Director of Labor and Industrial Relations needs additional time than the existing ninety-day period for notifying employees of whistleblower determinations, as this time frame does not always provide sufficient time to complete complex investigations of complaints with regard to workplace safety rights. Your Committee believes that modernizing and streamlining worker-protection laws and allowing reasonable time for whistleblower investigations to be completed will preserve workplace safety.

Your Committee has amended this measure by making it effective upon its approval.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2324, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2324, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Technology,

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BRANDON J.C. ELEFANTE, Chair