EL CAJON – Tom Evans has a unique perspective on the role of safety professionals. As environmental, safety and health director for Verenium Corp., a division of BASF, Evans also possess a skill that proves invaluable when advocating for his program: salesmanship. Early in his career, Evans received formal training in sales and it has …
Among the issues Cal/OSHA is investigating in the March 27 death of a Bakersfield worker at an oil well operation is whether the worker’s flame-retardant suit contributed to the fatality. If so, might this classified as a heat related injury? The Division of Occupational Safety and Health reports that a worker for Nabors Completion and …
Revisions to the General Industry Safety Orders on hand protection have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and now are in the California Code of Regulations. They take effect on July 1. The Cal/OSH Standards Board finally adopted the rulemaking package revising GISO §3384 on Feb. 20, after a public hearing on Oct. …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health announces a program to attract undergraduate and graduate college students to a career in Cal/OSHA. The paid internships will be offered for the summer in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and other locations. Interns will be assigned to enforcement or Consultation Service offices, where they will learn …
The Cal/OSH Standards Board has granted Southern California Edison a variance that allows the utility to use so-called “live-line, barehand” work techniques on power lines. Essentially, the procedure allows linesmen to make repairs on energized parts and conductors with their bare hands, instead of using “hot sticks.” The technique is nothing new – the board …
The failure of an electrician to ensure that the circuit he was working on was completely disconnected cost him his life last September when he made contact with 480 volts at Anaheim’s Honda Center arena. A subsequent Cal/OSHA investigation has led to citations for six alleged serious and other violations for his employer, First Electrical …
Cal/OSHA has issued multiple serious citations to five California employers as the result of five work related deaths. From agriculture, to construction, to waste management the deaths were all, according to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, preventable. Here are the summaries and some lessons. The July 5, 2013, death of an agricultural worker …
Frustrated in attempts to force the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to use Fed-OSHA’s serious incident reporting criteria, two organizations representing public agencies have filed a Complaint Against State Program Administration (CASPA) to mandate the change. The Public Agency Safety Management Association (PASMA) and Water Utility Safety Management Association in a March 25 letter …