It’s been seven months since stakeholders commented on the Cal/OSHA plan to regulate indoor heat illness. They’ll get a chance to weigh in on a new draft in early February when the Division of Occupational Safety and Health convenes another advisory meeting. The Division has just released the latest draft proposals, as outlined below This …
New tunneling technology means that workers no longer have to toil behind an exposed tunnel face, potentially exposing them to inrushing water, mud, or hazardous gases. Advanced mechanized systems are closed off from workers, with a pressurized bulkhead and other protections. But Cal/OSHA regulations still require tunnel-boring operations to drill test holes, including horizontal and …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health is proposing a performance standard to help prevent workplace violence in general industry, based on a similar standard for health care that took effect in April 2017. DOSH will convene stakeholders to get their take on the so-far informal proposal on January 25 in Oakland. The proposal is …
A Coachella Valley employer faces more than $41,000 in potential penalties after one of its workers died in July 2017 after being stung by a hive of bees. The stings didn’t kill him directly, but anaphylactic shock did, and Cal/OSHA says the employer, Hadley Date Gardens, should have taken into account the possibility of encountering …
The Department of Industrial Relations and Cal/OSHA have raised the maximum and minimum penalties for certain Title 8 violations, just months after a huge increase mandated by the U.S. Congress in 2017. The raises are for regulatory, general repeat and willful violations. The increases were effective January 8 and amount to 2.04113%, the percentage increase …
The Kinder Morgan Lomita Rail Terminal just celebrated its second recertification in Cal/OSHA’s VPP – Voluntary Protection Program. Qualifying for the program in the first place isn’t easy, and neither is staying in VPP. The Lomita facility has achieved this safety success through a combination of solid principles, employee engagement, and strong corporate support. In …
The Thomas wildfire in Southern California has taken the life of a CalFire engineer, and the cleanup of the October firestorm in Santa Rosa has claimed another worker’s life. Cal/OSHA is investigating both incidents. In the Thomas fire, in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, firefighter Cory Iverson, 32, was killed under circumstances that have not …
The new California Underground Facilities Safe Excavation Board, also known as the Dig-Safe Board, is almost complete. Gov. Jerry Brown has announced the appointment of seven members. Besides the governors seven members, the Assembly and Senate each appoint one. One open seat remains to be filled by the Assembly, with the recent resignation of Daniel …