The Division of Occupational Safety and Health has investigated almost 70 workplace incidents involving tree work in a little over two years, including 12 fatalities and dozens of hospitalizations. In the wake of four tree-trimming fatalities in the last six weeks, the Division is launching an awareness campaign for the industry, which includes tree service …
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has devised a downloadable app for Apple devices that can give safety managers – and employees – real-time information on noise levels in the workplace. The NIOSH Sound Level Meter is almost as accurate as professional sound measurement instruments, the institute says. It is available through the …
The Construction Employers Association honored 17 of its member companies with its highest safety honor, the President’s Safety Award. The association also recognized Harris Construction Co. as its 2016 Most Improved Safety Program. CEA feted the companies at its recent annual meeting. The award is one of two safety recognition awards the organization presents each …
Gov. Jerry Brown has reappointed Ed Lowry to the Cal/OSH Appeals Board, where he has served since 2011 as the public member. Lowry, a Democrat, earned his law degree from Stanford University and previously served as a hearing office at the state Office of Pesticide Regulation. Cal/OSHA still has two vacancies on the Standards Board. …
Cal/OSHA is investigating three workplace fatalities in the second week of January. They include a fall and two apparent struck-by incidents. The fall was in Torrance, where an employee of the Double Tree Hotel fell 10 feet from a ladder and died the next day. The struck-bys were in the southern part of the state. …
The year 2016 is in our review mirror, and 2017 is well underway. Some of Cal/OSHA’s issues were resolved in the past year, but others linger. And there will be new problems in the coming months, for sure. Here’s a look back at the top stories we followed in 2016, including some issues that have …
California ended 2016 with several workplace fatalities in December. State workplaces also suffered 15 natural causes deaths in the last weeks of the year. Cal/OSH is not investigating most of the recent deaths, but is, as usual, working to determine the causes of the work-related fatalities. In early December in Truckee, a ski instructor was …
A father who hoisted his son and a co-worker in a personnel platform by crane, only to see them plunge to their deaths at a Yolo County construction site, has been charged in their deaths by the county district attorney. Mark Powell, who was operating the crane and was superintendent for the bridge project in …