SACRAMENTO – Considering all the talk about the heavy yoke of regulation that chokes small businesses, the turnout November 29 for the Cal-OSH Standards Board’s public meeting to solicit comments on Title 8 safety orders was surprising. Most of the speakers represented companies and organizations that are extremely familiar with Title 8 and regularly interact …
SACRAMENTO – SACRAMENTO: Governor Pete Wilson has appointed Louis J. Bonsignore deputy director of communications for the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). Since 1991, Bonsignore has served in a similar capacity for the Department of Consumer Affairs. Victoria L. Bradshaw has been appointed to head the Employment Development Department. As Labor Commissioner she guided DIR’s …
SACRAMENTO – On November 7, a four-foot long section of an unshored trench on a utility relocation project in Irvine collapsed on two workers. Pedro Lopez, who was buried up to his neck, died soon after. A second worker was treated for a broken hip. Cal-OSHA requires shield, shoring or stair-stepping (benching) for trenches deeper …
SACRAMENTO – Those readers who find the variety of Appeals Board decisions of interest may want to look at two included in this week’s Digests. Both were filed by an employee with the County of Los Angeles. He and his co-workers worked in a building shaken in the Northridge earthquake, where repairs were not complete. …
SAN FRANCISCO – Trial lawyers who represent clients injured by someone else’stortious behavior gathered recently for a meeting of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAC), formerly the California Trial Lawyers Association. To judge by presentations at a three-hour session November 17 on workplace injuries, they take a sanguine view. David Rosen, the first to speak, …
SAN FRANCISCO – In order to be self-insured for workers’ compensation, employers must either be large and financially sound or in the public sector. Mark Ashcraft is the manager of self-insurance plans for the Department of Industrial Relations. In a recent speech before the Society of Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU), he said that …
SACRAMENTO – Revisions of Title 8 General Industry standards concerning specific features of fixed ladders and modification of older cranes are set for public hearing on December 14 before the Cal-OSH Standards Board. The meeting and hearing will be held in the auditorium of the State Resources Building, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, beginning at 10 …
SACRAMENTO – October was a busy month for the Cal-OSH Appeals Board. The board docketed 347 appeals for a calendar total of 4,058, received one petition for reconsideration and issued a record seven Decisions After Reconsideration.