An alleged murder more than 2,500 miles away from California has renewed calls for action on a bill that would help protect code compliance officers from violent acts by the public. Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) introduced AB 3319 in February, but the legislation has not moved out of its originally assigned committee. It has …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has a big decision to make soon – whether or not to authorize an emergency temporary standard to protect non-healthcare workers from coronavirus exposure. Its own staff says no, it’s not necessary and wouldn’t do much good anyway. But the Division of Occupational Safety and Health says not only is the …
Cal/OSHA’s reports three dozen more workplace fatalities, almost three-quarters of them from COVID-19 infections. The non-COVID cases include: An employee of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. had been assisting first responders in fire-threatened Vacaville and was subsequently discovered unresponsive in his truck. Another fire hero was killed during the recent blazes, but that incident was …
Fed-OSHA’s latest evaluation of the Cal/OSHA program found a few new issues, seemingly minor. But it made very sure to mention the program’s most glaring problem: The raft of vacancies at both the inspector and manager levels. The annual report is known as the Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (FAME). Cal/OSHA relies on federal funding …
Over the past several years, Cal/OSHA, particularly the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, has endured a steady succession of retirements. Combined with a host of hiring issues, there are significant staff shortages. Now comes the Department of Industrial Relations, which is trying to lure those retirees back to help the Division as it responds …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating 17 recent workplace fatalities. Six of them are from COVID-related complications. The non-COVID fatalities include: An employee of JH Painting Contractors in San Francisco who fell from an as-yet undetermined height. He was transported to a hopsital where he succumbed to his injuries. DOSH was …
Virtually unnoticed in our pandemic-obsessed times were small, but significant changes to Cal/OSHA regulations about reporting fatalities and serious injuries. But when the Division of Occupational Safety and Health recently announced that the revisions had gone into effect in February, stakeholders were aghast. “Why haven’t we heard about this,” they wondered. Mandated by AB 1804 …
Doug Parker, chief of Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, says the agency has sent out 1BY notices of intent to issue serious citations in 71 cases for violations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means dozens of serious violations are likely coming soon in these cases. The chief briefed a meeting of the …