2017-2018 Bill 4176: Electrical Safety Month - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 122nd Session, 2017-2018 3 4 H. 4176 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 Concurrent Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Forrester, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Arrington, Atkinson, Atwater, Bales, 10 Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bedingfield, Bennett, Bernstein, Blackwell, Bowers, Bradley, Brown, 11 Burns, Caskey, Chumley, Clary, Clemmons, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cogswell, Cole, Collins, Crawford, 12 Crosby, Daning, Davis, Delleney, Dillard, Douglas, Duckworth, Elliott, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrest, 13 Fry, Funderburk, Gagnon, Gilliard, Govan, Hamilton, Hardee, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, Henegan, 14 Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hill, Hiott, Hixon, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Jefferson, Johnson, Jordan, King, 15 Kirby, Knight, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, Magnuson, Martin, McCoy, McCravy, McEachern, 16 McKnight, Mitchell, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy, B. Newton, W. Newton, Norrell, Ott, Parks, Pitts, 17 Pope, Putnam, Quinn, Ridgeway, M. Rivers, S. Rivers, RobinsonSimpson, Rutherford, Ryhal, Sandifer, 18 Simrill, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, 19 Thigpen, Toole, Weeks, West, Wheeler, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, Willis and Yow 20 Document Path: l:\council\bills\rt\17155sa17.docx 21 22 Introduced in the House on April 25, 2017 23 Introduced in the Senate on April 25, 2017 24 Adopted by the General Assembly on April 25, 2017 25 26 Summary: Electrical Safety Month 27 28 29 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 30 31 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 32 4/25/2017 House Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate ( House Journalpage 35) 33 4/25/2017 Senate Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence ( Senate Journalpage 14) 34 35 View the latest legislative information at the website 36 37 38 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 39 40 4/25/2017 41 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 TO DECLARE MAY 2017 “ELECTRICAL SAFETY MONTH” 12 IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND ENCOURAGE ALL CITIZENS 13 TO ESTABLISH AND PRACTICE ELECTRICAL SAFETY 14 HABITS IN THE HOME, SCHOOL, AND WORKPLACE TO 15 REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ELECTRICALLYRELATED 16 FIRES, INJURIES, AND DEATHS. 17 18 Whereas, the most recent statistics from the National Fire 19 Protection Association (NFPA) show fortyeight thousand electrical 20 fires occur annually, causing four hundred fiftyfive deaths and 21 over one thousand five hundred injuries across the nation; and 22 23 Whereas, property damages from these home fires due to electrical 24 failure or malfunction cost more than 1.4 billion dollars a year; and 25 26 Whereas, more than six people are electrocuted each week in the 27 United States, and in 2016 alone, electrical fires claimed the lives 28 of one hundred sixtyeight civilians, including fourteen children 29 across the nation, according to the United States Fire 30 Administration; and 31 32 Whereas, the State Fire Marshal reports that thirty South 33 Carolinians died in electrical fires from 2014 to 2017, and some 34 eighty percent of civilian fire fatalities in the State occurred in 35 residential homes; and 36 37 Whereas, citizens are advised and often required to protect their 38 homes and families with proven fire prevention safety 39 technologies, such as ground fault circuit interrupters, arc fault 40 circuit interrupters, and tamperresistant receptacles, and they are 41 urged to install, test, and maintain properly an adequate number of 42 smoke alarms; and

[4176] 2 1 2 Whereas, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, a 3 group of nearly four hundred electrical, medicalimaging, and 4 radiationtherapy manufacturers across the country, promotes 5 education and awareness about electrical safety and fireprevention 6 technologies. Now therefore, 7 8 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 9 concurring: 10 11 That the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, 12 declares May 2017 “Electrical Safety Month” in South Carolina 13 and encourages all citizens to establish and practice electrical 14 safety habits in the home, school, and workplace to reduce the 15 number of electricallyrelated fires, injuries, and deaths. 16 XX 17

[4176] 3