The Cal/OSH Standards Board adopted a significant decrease in the permissible exposure limit for the chemical hydrogen chloride (HC1) at its recent meeting. This was despite and over the objections of a member of the committee that made the recommendation to Cal/OSHA in the first place. Hydrogen chloride is used in the production of hydrochloric …
Division of Occupational Safety and Health Chief Juliann Sum has told the Cal/OSH Standards Board that the Division anticipates completing rulemaking on its major changes to the heat illness prevention standard in early 2015. Sum’s comments on the heat illness issue and other pending rulemaking projects were presented to the board by Steve Smith, manager …
The Cal/OSH Standards Board approved revisions to several safety orders to update references to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes. The references in Title 8 to NFPA standards are “badly outdated” and conflict with California Fire Codes, necessitating the update the board says. There were no negative comments on the proposal. It updates General Industry …
Here’s a poster you can use about driving while texting from our friends at Bikers Against Texting. We hope you’ll use it. We all see drivers on the road all the time with their heads bent down over their cell phones, sometimes tapping them. Some of us have even done it ourselves. But did you …
A coalition of representatives of the ironwork community says Cal/OSHA’s construction regulations put workers at risk because they don’t cover widely used newer techniques for reinforcing concrete. The community will get a chance to convince the Standards Board on Oct. 27 and 28 in Sacramento that the regulations need to be changed when the board …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating scaffold collapse in downtown Napa that, fortunately, did not involve any worker or pedestrian injuries. But the incident, caused by windy conditions, points out the need for properly securing scaffolds from the forces of nature, a construction safety professional says. The Oct. 1 incident occurred at …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health is probing three recent workplace fatalities to determine if they are work-related and if so, whether there were any Title 8 violations. Oct. 13: An employee of Pace Diversified Corp. in Bakersfield died in what appears to be a natural-causes death. The employee, who had a history of …
Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s annual conference of the California Industrial Hygiene Council. The conference is set for Dec. 3-5 at the Hotel Solamar in San Diego. Other keynoters include Christine Baker, director of the Department of Industrial Relations …