General contractor Rudolph and Sletten has some 10 years in a Voluntary Protection Program-Construction (VPP-C) journey that keeps rolling and helps spread a safety culture throughout the industry. The latest VPP-C site is a special project, the Skilled Nursing and Memory Care Facility at the sprawling Veteran’s Home of California in Yountville, administered by CalVet. …
A Fed-OSHA initiative to revise an almost 45-year-old standard concerning emergency response is raising questions about whether the proposal goes too far and whether it fails to consider potential unintended consequences and costs. The Feds’ response to these questions matters because Cal/OSHA will eventually have to revise its standards to comply with ‘at least as’ …
There are four new California workplace fatalities. In Kneeland, Humboldt County, two employees of EHS Amentum, a pilot and co-pilot, were killed when their plane crashed on approach to the local airstrip. Amentum is a consulting, engineering, and program and facilities management firm. Its EMR is 46 EMR and workers’ comp coverage through All-American Insurance. …
Cal/OSHA and its parent organization, the Department of Industrial Relations, recently announced it is crafting rules to crack down on so-called “enterprise-wide” and “egregious” violations. Late last year, DOSH issued a policy and procedure on another program, mirroring a federal counterpart. The Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) is designed to concentrate resources on “inspecting employers …
California’s Office of Administrative Law has approved Cal/OSHA’s indoor heat illness prevention regulation. The controversial regulation is now in effect. General Industry Safety Orders §3396 standard applies to most indoor workplaces, including warehouses, restaurants, and manufacturing facilities. Emergency operations and correctional facilities are exempted from the requirements. Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health plans …
Two self-insured employers have met the difficult requirements and requalified for Cal/OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program. Another employer has qualified, for the first time, for the Reach program, which recognizes employers working toward the VPP Star. The recertified VPP employers include: Sherwin Williams Moreno Valley Distribution and Services Center: The site has 47 employees. It achieved …
For many years and through various important rulemaking efforts – COVID, lead, indoor heat illness, and others – employer representatives have complained long and loud that Cal/OSHA isn’t taking their concerns seriously enough and not really listening to them on the costs and unintended consequences of major proposals – and even some minor ones. That …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited Grande’s One Priority Roofing following the December 12th, 2023, death of an employee. The Division seeks about $11,000 in penalties in the case. The 54-year-old male employee was sweeping roofing material from a rooftop at a Lompoc commercial building when he walked into an area that …