SAN DIEGO – Not much has been heard about this since the announcement, but on April 11 Governor Pete Wilson proposed the privatization of a very large government program — the transfer of the $7.3 billion State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF) to the private sector. A source from the Competitive Government Task Force told the …
SAN DIEGO – A nine-member Ethics Advisory Committee has been appointed by Casey Young, Administrative Director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC), to oversee recently adopted regulations that set specific ethical standards for workers’ comp referees and other DWC employees, to the extent they exercise judicial or quasi-judicial functions. Five panel members will serve …
SAN DIEGO – Walter James Waddy returned on April 18 to the plant in El Seguneo where he once worked wearing a neck brace and packing a .38-caliber pistol. Police say he shot an unarmed guard and two employees before he was arrested. The 62-year-old Waddy left Hughes Electronics in 1993 after 16 years because …
SAN DIEGO – A recent decision in the Second Appellate District is bad news for employers. It held that a secretary who injured her knee at work, had surgery and was released to return to work but terminated, could sue the City of Moorpark (Ventura County) for tortious conduct as well as seek a 132a …
SAN DIEGO – Twice during the week of April 15, a Caterpillar parts-making factory in York, PA, turned away two medical scientists from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) who wanted to investigate union claims that substances such as cadmium were causing health problems for company workers. Caterpillar first refused access on …
SAN DIEGO – AB 2225 (Bowler) and AB 2399 (Miller) were heard recently by the Assembly Insurance Committee in Sacramento. Because a full complement of members did not attend, the bills failed to pass, but reconsideration has been granted. ADR FOR WORKERS’ COMP: Gary Miller’s AB 2399 would permit grocery employers and labor unions as …
SAN DIEGO – DON’T TAKE SAFETY FOR GRANTED: For Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28, Joe Dear, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health, submitted an opinion piece in defense of OSHA. “People who think there’s no need for a safety and health agency have forgotten how it used to be,” he said. “Today, it’s …
SAN DIEGO – Ginger Henry and Lee Klein manage two of Cal-OSHA’s district compliance offices. At the Pacific Southwest Safety and Health Conference, they were joined in an all-about-Cal-OSHA program by Bill Obert, who manages the San Diego Consultation Service office, and Standards Board member Bill Jackson. One of the authors of the latest draft …