SACRAMENTO – After hearing testimony most of the day September 5 about the shortcomings of General Industry 5110 (ergonomics), Judge James T. Ford announced his ruling. He took up each of the parties’ arguments in turn and either accepted or rejected them. The small employer exemption and subpart (c) were found wanting. Labor, represented by …
SACRAMENTO – “Coming to Terms With the Terms of Risk” is a thoughtful consideration of how researchers define terms like risk, risk factors and cause. The authors of the article in the Archives of General Psychiatry, April 1997, are all affiliated with blue-ribbon medical schools and had the support of equally distinguished foundations. They begin …
SACRAMENTO – +”In 1995, there were more workplace homicides in Retail Trade than in any other U.S. industry. Retail Trade accounted for 41% of the total. The Retail category includes Grocery Stores (15%), Eating and Drinking Places (12%), Gas Stations (4%) and Other Retail (10%). (—Violence on the Job, a guidebook from the Labor Occupational …
SACRAMENTO – Pesticide drift and training for lead-based paint activities have been singled out for attention by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The August 15 Federal Register announced that EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs would hold a public workshop to discuss the Spray Drift Task Force Data Review project. One of the participants is Cal/EPA’s …
SACRAMENTO – On August 27 Fed-OSHA issued citations with proposed penalties totaling $230,400 to an Alburtis, PA, excavating contractor for subjecting workers to potential life-threatening conditions during installation of a sewer line. The local community can take credit for exposing the dangers, said Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman. Atlantic Contracting, Inc., was cited for a …
SACRAMENTO – The California Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Humantech, Inc., of Ann Arbor, MI, and Irvine, CA, will present two one-day workshops designed to provide basic skills for identifying ergonomic risk, understanding and preventing cumulative trauma disorders and developing a successful ergonomics process that will meet the new Cal-OSHA standard. The workshops for …
SACRAMENTO – ERRATUM #1: The decision published last week as 19,107R Bepex Corporation, on page 40-3382, should be numbered 19,108R. Please write in the correction. AND #2: A day-long safety conference sponsored by the California Water Environment Association is being held October 8 in Santa Clara. Our September calendar, issued August 25, gave the correct …
SAN FRANCISCO – On August 28, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s Elevator Unit issued orders to prohibit use (OPUs, or yellow tags) that blocked access to elevators at the La Brea Shaft tunnel construction entrance and the Universal City site. This effectively blocked construction. Lee Klein of Cal-OSHA’s High Hazard Unit told COR …