The San Bernardino County District Attorney announces a plea agreement with recycler rePlanet in the August 2014 fatality of a worker at a Rancho Cucamonga facility. Salvador Garcia, 61, was killed after being crushed by a 35,000-pound earth mover. The company has agreed to three years of probation, $500,000 in restitution to Garcia’s family, a …
Cal/OSHA rules for protecting workers from silica exposure have been approved by the state Office of Administrative Law and are now technically in effect. But the rules don’t actually become operational for seven months, because of a phase-in date to give employers time to comply with the new requirements. The action is in response to …
Satisfied that staff allayed their concerns voiced at a July meeting, two members of the Cal/OSH Standards Board voted along with their colleagues to approve an exception to the General Industry Safety Orders for work done in ceiling spaces. Under current rules, such work must include a catwalk to keep workers safe. It’s illogical under …
More than one-third of American employees surveyed by the National Safety Council say they don’t believe they are well-trained in emergency practices, including such routine and required practices such as evacuation. Meanwhile, most managers and supervisors believe employees are well trained to handle emergencies. In California, that could mean anything from earthquakes to fires and …
NOTE: Cal-OSHA Reporter responds at the end of this subscriber letter. Cal-OSHA Reporter’s account of the settlement of the citations issued to Butler Amusements left some questions unanswered and in some respects was inaccurate. (“Amusement Ride Company to Pay Full Fare for Dangerous-Ride Cites,” September 30, 2016, p. 11577.) The opening paragraph of the article wrongly stated …
Ten more California workplace fatalities occurred in recent days, including four fatal falls, a vehicle encounter and a crushing. Four additional deaths appear to be from natural causes. One of the falls occurred on September 23 and the worker died October 10. He was an employee of Hillman Consulting in San Bernardino and had fallen …
The Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) will pay $300,000 to the family of one of the men who was killed in October 2013 while inspecting tracks near Walnut Creek. The settlement comes as another settlement nears completion – the Cal/OSHA case against the transit agency. It cited BART for three alleged willful violations after …
Next week, Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health will convene an advisory committee to determine whether the state needs to create new safety rules for the medical marijuana industry. If voters approve an initiative this fall to make marijuana fully legal, as polling concludes likely, such rules could provide a framework for a burgeoning …