Just three months after it cited the Los Angeles Police Department and the city’s Department of General Services overexposing employees to unsanitary conditions – resulting in typhoid fever – the Division of Occupational Safety and Health is going after the city again. This time, it has cited DGS and the City Attorney’s Office after a …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health is expected to unveil its long-awaited revisions to the Elevator Safety Orders in the near future. And it is not without controversy. Even before stakeholders get a look at the package, an industry group is pushing back, saying it deviates from a national model code that many states …
In our weekly fatality section, there has been an increasing number of “unknown” causes of death. The numbers have increased as the year has gotten hotter and that’s not a coincidence. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health has opened investigations into dozens of cases that might be from heat illness.Most of the cases will …
The latest workplace incidents under investigation by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health include two falls, an electrocution, a drowning, a struck-by, and an arc flash death. The falls were on opposite ends of the state. In Magalia, Butte County, an employee of McMillian Tree Service was tied off to a branch while working …
A dispute over a Cal/OSHA requirement for temporary flooring on multi-story projects has triggered a petition to the Standards Board by a Sacramento construction company. Even Division of Occupational Safety and Health personnel could not agree among themselves about whether or not employers can use alternatives to Construction Safety Orders §1710(l)(7), says Richard Manuel, safety …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health has released the “discussion draft” of its potential permanent regulation to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke ahead of an August 27 advisory meeting, and it it sure to provoke plenty of discussion. Under the draft (and it’s only a draft ), DOSH would lower the Air Quality …
The California Legislature has approved its first occupational safety and health-related bill, sending it to the governor. AB 1804 aims to clean up an unintended consequence of a 2014 bill on employer-required reporting of fatalities and serious injuries. Currently, Title 8 §342(a) requires employers to report such incidents within eight hours by telephone or email …
The Cal/OSH Appeals Board has approved dozens of settlements in Cal/OSHA citation cases, including several involving fatalities. Other settlements are significant because of the injuries involved or the dollar amounts sought by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Here are some of the most significant cases. Amware Pallet Services: This Pico Rivera employer will …