Requires the commissioner of labor, in consultation with the commissioner of health and the commissioner of environmental conservation, to develop instructional tools and materials for industries at high-risk for occupational tick exposures; requires such materials to provide information on the identification of ticks and tick removal, and protection from tick bites; requires such materials to be available to high-risk employers and employees at no charge.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8031
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARRETT -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring the commissioner
of labor to develop instructional tools and materials for industries
at high-risk for occupational tick exposures
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 21 of the labor law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 17 to read as follows:
3 17. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of health
4 and the commissioner of environmental conservation, shall develop
5 instructional tools and materials for industries at high-risk for occu-
6 pational tick exposures including, but not limited to, agriculture,
7 landscaping, and forestry, to assist in the education and awareness
8 program to protect employees from Lyme disease and tick-borne infections
9 established pursuant to section sixteen-b of the agriculture and markets
10 law, and for first responders, road crews, and utility crews. Such
11 instructional tools and materials shall provide information on the iden-
12 tification of ticks, best practices to provide protection from ticks and
13 recommended procedures for safe tick removal. Such instructional tools
14 and materials may include, but need not be limited to, video
15 productions, pamphlets, and demonstration programs to illustrate the
16 various sizes of ticks before and after they have engorged to assist
17 with the identification of ticks and the reaction on the skin, for a
18 variety of skin tones, that may occur as a result of a tick bite, and
19 protection against tick bites. Such instructional tools and materials
20 shall be made available to high-risk employers and employees upon
21 request at no charge and shall be reviewed and updated annually.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11580-03-5
