California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating several more workplace fatalities, including two incidents involving equipment striking employees. Two others appear to be from natural causes. The struck-bys were in Santa Fe Springs and Tulare. In the former, a shareholder in Galleria Foods was struck by a forklift in mid-May and died from …
Revisions to Cal/OSHA’s standard on controlling asbestos exposure might be in for a major addition. The Standards Board authorized an advisory committee to look at possible provisions on naturally occurring asbestos (NOA). The move is in response to a petition from a group that points out that the current regulation, Construction Safety Orders §1529, focuses …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health has released the latest draft of a potential indoor heat illness prevention standard, mandated by law and under discussion with stakeholders since last year. The new version revises several areas of the last draft, particularly on which industries the regulation will apply to, what exactly Cal/OSHA considers indoor …
Our May 18 photo of a scissor lift being hoisted by a reach lift at a Pacifica construction site has gotten the attention of safety professionals. Here are the responses we’ve gotten so far. “Not Authorized” J. Robert Harrell of Safety Management Systems in San Diego writes: Regarding the photo of a scissor lift being …
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating seven recent workplace fatalities. Included among them are two more deadly falls and a trench collapse. Here are the incidents: The falls were in Bakersfield and Chatsworth. In Bakersfield, an employee of Petrissans Family Farms fell from a 30-foot structure. In Chatsworth, an employee of Zero …
Nova Group, Inc.,’s, headquarters, in an easy-to-miss area between the vineyards of the Napa Valley and the tidal marshes of San Pablo Bay, doesn’t stand out as a monument to the company’s success. The buildings are simple and utilitarian. But Nova has something virtually every other construction company doesn’t – a Cal/OSHA Voluntary Protection Program …
The April 25 explosion at Superior Refinery in Superior, Wisconsin was the first such incident nationwide since California implemented sweeping reforms to refinery safety in this state in October 2017. A question naturally raises itself: Would the process safety management (PSM) reforms enacted by California after two major refinery explosions have prevented a Superior-like incident …
AB 1761, the bill intended to provide safeguards for hotel housekeepers facing sexual harassment or assault from guests, has received significant amendments. The chief among them is the removal of a requirement for a list of hotel guests who have committed an act of violence or harassment against employees of that hotel for the preceding …