BENICIA – More than 30 Cal/OSHA inspectors who were joined by loss control staff from State Compensation Insurance Fund recently took a – pardon the expression – crash course on steel erection safety at Benicia’s University of Iron. No non-government loss control people attended. “You can’t regulate the industry properly if you don’t understand how …
RANCHO MIRAGE – Joe Ontiveros, a safety professional with 25 years of experience and a “deep devotion” to keeping workers safe, is Associated General Contractors of California’s Safety Professional of the Year. Ontiveros and a number of other individuals and organizations were honored for their safety efforts at the association’s annual conference in the Palm …
The Cal/OSH Appeals Board has reinstated a willful-serious violation against Chevron Richmond in a case initiated in the wake of the August 6, 2012, fire at the refinery. The board said the administrative law judge incorrectly dismissed a violation of the Petroleum Safety Orders and $70,000 on temporary repairs. The ruling, if it ultimately stands, …
SACRAMENTO – Although there were no in-person comments at an October 15 public hearing on a Cal/OSHA proposal to craft a separate standard for confined spaces in construction, there has been plenty of action behind the scenes. And to say a controversy broke out may be an understatement. That action includes a federal lawsuit against …
A University of California-Davis study on heat exposure among farmworkers is getting indications that it isn’t the work but the personal habits of the workers, which are causing heat illness issues. The study is in its final two years and has gathered data on almost 600 workers. But there are no definitive findings yet. The …
Mid-October has seen five California workers die on the job. Here’s a rundown of the recent incidents: A worker for the Apple Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County died October 14 from injuries sustained a week earlier. According to Cal/OSHA, the employee was injured after falling off a ladder. An employee of Garza …
Proving that Cal-OSHA Reporter’s reader’s comments make a difference, the Cal/OSH Standards Board has made changes aimed at clarifying the rule change to a proposal addressing “adequate design” of equipment. The Board is continuing to accept comments on these proposed changes until Nov. 3rd. It undertook the proposal after an Appeals Board decision dismissed a …
A recent hearing on the Department of Industrial Relations’ proposal to implement AB 1634 on abatement credits for serious Title 8 violations has convinced the department that it needs to extend – again – an emergency regulation in place since early this year. The new rules mean that employers aren’t given an automatic 50% abatement …