Blog Archives

Safe Patient-Handling Rules Final

California’s Office of Administrative Law has approved Cal/OSHA’s new safe patient-handling regulations, and they  become effective this fall. OAL also approved a rulemaking package on the guarding of vertical food mixers. The patient-handling regulation was mandated by 2011’s AB 1136, which was signed into law after several failed attempts in previous years. The Cal/OSH Standards Board … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Scaffold Contractor Pays More than Proposed in Reactor Incident

Brand Scaffold Services has agreed to pay more than the originally proposed $75,690 in penalties in a 2012 case in which one of its workers was seriously injured inside a reactor vessel at the Chevron El Segundo refinery. Chevron previously settled its case with Cal/OSHA, agreeing to pay $30,000 of a proposed $51,185. The worker … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Ag Night Work Proposal Edges Closer to Formal Introduction

It will likely be too late for the 2014 summer growing season, but work on a standard to protect agricultural workers during increasingly common night operations proceeds and will eventually become a formal proposal before the Cal/OSH Standards Board. Staff recently released a revised draft proposal, based on comments at a May 6 stakeholders meeting … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

See You Later in September – Public Hearing Date Changed for Proposed Heat Illness Revisions

The Cal/OSH Standards Board has pushed back the date for its September meeting, from Sept. 18 to 25, to ensure that proposed changes to the state’s heat illness prevention standard are part of that month’s public hearing. The location remains San Diego’s County Administration Building. Board Executive Officer Marley Hart confirms that the proposal will … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Employee Dies in Tomato Field

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating the July 18 fatality of a truck driver at a Fresno-area tomato field. The driver was an employee of Wave Co., which does business as Valley Farm Transport. He had arrived at the field at about 7:45 a.m. and dropped off a “set of doubles” (trailers)  according … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Labor Contractor Denied Variance to Use Short-Handled Weeding Tools

The Cal/OSH Standards Board has denied a variance request from a farm labor contractor seeking to use short-handled tools to weed, saying the evidence does not demonstrate that the tools would provide equivalent safety to complying with the safety order. Jett Harvest, Inc., which supplies workers who tend fields, sought relief from General Industry Safety … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Governor Signs Reporting Bill

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that falls far short of its sponsor’s original intention, but nonetheless will make it easier for employers to report fatality and serious-injury incidents. AB 326 by Assemblyman Mike Morrell (R-Redlands) is a two-year bill that originally would have adopted the Fed-OSHA standard for reporting such incidents – … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Warehouse’s Alleged Failure to Abate Triggers $300K in Penalties

Despite a settlement earlier this year between the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and National Distribution Center (NFI) in which the employer agreed to provide its workers with foot protection, DOSH alleges that NFI has failed to correct the problem, leading to a serious injury. The result: A whopping $308,435 in proposed failure-to-abate penalties. … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »