Blog Archives

Big Penalties in Fresno Shooting Range Explosion

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health alleges that Fresno County’s Public Works Department failed to take precautions before excavating at a Sheriff’s Department shooting range. The accident occurred when a front loader operatorstruck a gas line. That lead to a pipeline rupture that killed an inmate working nearby, and severely injured the front loader … Read More »

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Cal/OSHA Publishes Healthcare Violence Prevention Standard

Neither side got precisely what it wanted, but healthcare stakeholders now have a formal proposal before them on preventing violence in their work settings. The Cal/OSH Standards Board just published the new, 13-page proposal and it is in its comment period. The board will hold a public hearing on it on December 17 in Sacramento. … Read More »

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California Employment is Up – Are Injuries and Illnesses Increasing, Too?

California employment continues to climb, but the state’s workplaces aren’t seeing a corresponding rise in injuries and illnesses. Those statistics for 2014 from the Division of Labor Statistics and Research show a 2% drop in injuries over 2013,  and a slight decrease in I&I rates. Last year we reported a rise in employment and injury/illness rates. … Read More »

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Californians Questions Feds’ Call for Six-Foot Fall Protection Trigger

SACRAMENTO – California leads the way in many areas of workplace safety regulation, but not on fall protection, Jordan Barab, a top official at Fed-OSHA told stakeholders at a much-anticipated meeting this week. The Golden State lags behind the Feds and many other states in this area and OSHA, which oversees Cal/OSHA, believes the agency … Read More »

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Inspectors & Loss Control Pros Go to University of Iron

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 … Read More »

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Shimmick Safety Manager is AGC’s Safety Professional of the Year

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 … Read More »

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Appeals Board Restores Willful Violation on Temporary Valves

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, … Read More »

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Confined Spaces in Construction Rules Too Broad, Stakeholders Say

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 … Read More »

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