Blog Archives

Video Awards for Providence Pubs

Cal-OSHA Reporter and its sister publication Workers’ Comp Executive this month brought home a pair of national awards for excellence in journalism from Specialized Information Publishers Association. The newsletters, which are published by Providence Publications, were recognized for their compelling use of video in covering developments in California’s workers’ comp and workplace safety industries. Cal-OSHA … Read More »

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Emergency Responders’ Respirator Revisions Survive Close Vote

SACRAMENTO – Public agencies won a victory before the Cal/OSH Standards Board on June 20, which voted 4-3 to allow emergency responders to use less-costly N100 respirators when handling suspected high-hazard patients, instead of the currently required P100 variety. The vote came after several board members voiced qualms about the proposal, saying Cal/OSHA should retain … Read More »

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Worker’s Southland Death Probed for Possible Heat Illness Connection

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating a fatality reported to the Division on June 19 that could be a case of heat illness. DOSH also is investigating a fatal fall in recent days. The agency’s San Bernardino district office was notified of the death by employer E Light Electric Services, based in Desert … Read More »

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Construction Breathing Easy on Ventilation Rule for Shafts, Culverts

SACRAMENTO – There were only positive comments on  a Cal/OSHA proposal to remove a controversial phrase from a recent amendment designed to protect construction workers from exhaust fumes in restricted-ventilation places. When the Cal/OSH Standards Board revised the Construction Safety Orders in 2012 to ensure safety in shafts, culverts and pipelines, it included the term “other … Read More »

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DOSH ‘Losing Control’ of AFI Petition?

SACRAMENTO – Mark McGrath of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has been a fixture at Standards Board monthly meetings, keeping the foundation’s petition to require adult film production companies to go “condom only” in order to protect workers from sexually transmitted diseases front and center before the rulemaking body. AHF petitioned Cal/OSHA in 2010 to … Read More »

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Tunnel Dig Needs Modern Decompression Procedures

The Cal/OSH Standards Board has granted a variance from Title 8 decompression requirements to San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency (known informally as Muni) for a subway project that will bring light rail from Third Street to Chinatown. Workers who need to perform maintenance in the huge pressurized tunnel boring machines Muni is using to dig … Read More »

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Governor Gets Bill Making OSH Fund Permanent, More PSM Inspectors

A budget bill now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk would permanently remove the sunset on the Occupational Safety and Health Fund, Cal/OSHA’s funding mechanism that was set to expire this July. Meanwhile, language in the same bill would authorize at least 15 new positions in the Division of Occupational Safety and Health Process Safety Management … Read More »

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Petitioner: Cal/OSHA Rule Doesn’t Provide Up-To-Date Foot Protection

A Sierra Nevada foothills fire chief has submitted a petition to the Cal/OSH Standards Board to update a safety order on personal protective equipment and clothing for firefighters because the current requirement dates back to the 1970s, and its reference standard can’t even be found. Larry Crabtree, interim fire chief for the Mi-Wuk/Sugar Pine Fire … Read More »

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