SACRAMENTO – STEEL ERECTION: Fed-OSHA’s first effort at “negotiated rulemaking” came with establishment of the steel erection advisory committee. That was some time ago. The members met a number of times before agreeing on a new steel erection fall protection standard for subpart R of CFR 1926, with thresholds set at 15 and 30 feet. …
SACRAMENTO – The Center for Office Technology (COT) has issued its annual report on how the 50 states handle cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). The study found that in 1997, 18 states specifically recognized CTDs in statute. In 20 states, either carpal tunnel syndrome is recognized in statute or CTDs are included within either occupational disease …
SAN RAMON, CA – A construction worker died and two were critically injured in Fremont, CA, after falling through a roof and plunging three stories to the concrete floor below. The accident occurred just after noon on January 23 as the men were moving a rolling welding machine across the roof and two structural supports …
SAN FRANCISCO – The long-awaited criminal trial of Robert McSkimming, owner of K&L Plating in Oakland, CA, ended before it began in a plea of no contest on January 26. “He pleaded as charged. He admitted to all three counts,” Deputy District Attorney Larry Blazer told COR. The manslaughter charges against McSkimming and the plant …
SAN FRANCISCO – Governor Pete Wilson has appointed John Duncan Director of the Department of Industrial Relations. Duncan, 40, has been acting director since June 1997. Before that he served as chief deputy director and deputy director of communications. Wilson called Duncan “an important member of my Industrial Relations team since the beginning of this …
SAN FRANCISCO – This week’s Decisions section includes our summaries of two Appeals Board decisions notable for very different reasons. FIELD SANITATION: 19,168, Philip Giba Farms, is the last of five employer appeals relating to the Field Sanitation Standard which the Appeals Board is reconsidering. The Board has also asked for comments to help it …
SAN FRANCISCO – Senate Bill 1237 (Johannessen) would establish a pilot alternative dispute resolution program (ADR) for workers’ compensation in manufacturing. ADR, or “carve-out” dispute resolution, is in effect now at certain large unionized construction sites and has, by substituting mediation for litigation, lowered the legal costs that encumber the workers’ compensation system in California. …
SAN FRANCISCO – At a recent press conference in Sacramento, the Department of Industrial Relations explained its budget for 1998-99—$228,881,000 from all fund sources. In terms of personnel and chunk of the money budgeted, the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC), including the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, is in first place at $94 million. The Division …