Blog Archives

General Contractors Take Issue with Post-Tensioning Proposal

A proposal for what is believed to be a first-in-the-nation standard covering reinforcing steel concrete construction and post-tensioning operations is before the Cal/OSHA Standards Board. But the Construction Employers Association (CEA) says the proposal is “overly burdensome” for general contractors. It is a classic example of the tug-of-war that often occurs between general contractors and … Read More »

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New Saw Guarding Proposal

The first Cal/OSH Standards Board public hearing of 2017 involves guarding requirements for certain woodworking saws that the board says may not be adequate. The hearing on revisions to General Industry Safety Orders §4306 will be in San Diego. Board staff says it initiated the rule revision after it reviewed the guarding requirements for underhung … Read More »

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Governments Have More Injuries

There are some interesting statistics in the latest California injury and illness data comparing private companies’ incident rates for lost workdays to those of government. In all cases, the government has much higher rates. For instance, the incident rate for lost workdays for private industry was 101.8 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2015. For state … Read More »

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Six Workers Killed

Six more California workers suffered workplace fatalities in recent days, including three crushing deaths, two tree-trimming incidents and a drowning. Here’s what we know so far about these incidents: The crushing incidents were both in Southern California. In the Los Angeles area in late November, two workers were killed on successive days. First, an employee … Read More »

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Group Says DIR Ignored Recommendations – Allows Continuation of Bad Practices

There are questions concerning how the Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) is weakening protections for refinery workers envisioned by the governor’s refinery task force. The criticism is with Cal/OSHA’s formal proposal to revise California’s process safety management standard. A coalition of labor and environmental groups says DIR dismissed or ignored some 40 recommendations for restoring … Read More »

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BOI Referrals Holding Steady, but Prosecutions Steadily Declining

The latest report by Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations shows that in 2015 it initiated more than 200 cases, the highest number since 2006 when it opened 234 cases. But the report also shows that the number of cases BOI refers to district attorneys is less than half those in 2006, and those prosecuted are half … Read More »

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Cal/OSHA’s Renewed PEL Committee To Meet

More than four years after it last met, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s reconstituted Health Effects Advisory Committee meets December 6 to get back down to business. The first order of business? There will no longer be a two-track committee, one to discuss proposed permissible exposure limits for chemicals, and the other to … Read More »

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More Fall, Forklift Fatalities

Two of the most common workplace fatality sources in California of late claimed more workers – falls and forklift encounters. Both incidents occurred in Southern California. Another fatality occurred in San Francisco In Chula Vista, a telecom installer for Motive Energy was killed when he fell from a 30-foot roof. He survived the fall initially … Read More »

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