Blog Archives

Deadly Fall from Atrium Due to Changed Procedure, Unattached Lanyard

A fatal from a second-floor atrium at the San Diego Veterans Administration Hospital last October was the result of a number of missteps, capped by the deceased worker’s failure to have his fall protection harness attached to anything. California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited the employer, Force Environmental, for a serious, accident-related … Read More »

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California is Recovering, but Cal/OSHA is Still Looking for Budget Certainty

Despite a slow, but steady recovery in the national and California economies, Cal/OSHA still sees no light at the end of its tunnel of budgetary uncertainty. Filled compliance safety and health officer positions (CSHOs) are fewer than in 1989, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health is shuffling offices to reduce costs and the continuing … Read More »

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Safety is in This Company’s DNA

PLEASANTON – Welcome to the factory of the 21st century, where the workers wear lab coats instead of blue collars and the product is invisible to the naked eye. But Life Technologies, a growing Pleasanton campus, is very much a manufacturing facility, producing medical research, human identification, forensic, stem cell, genetic engineering and biotechnology tools.   The … Read More »

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Stadium Project Suffers Fatality

Work on the San Francisco 49ers $1.3 billion new stadium in Santa Clara was halted June 11 after an elevator mechanic was killed in one of the stadium’s shafts. Donald White, 63, was struck by a counterweight when another employee “ran the elevator up,” according to Department of Industrial Relations lead public information officer Erika … Read More »

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Heat Illness Still a “High Priority”

California experienced the hottest year in recorded history in 2012, Division of Occupational Safety and Health Chief Ellen Widess said during the year’s first conference call of the Heat Illness Prevention Network on June 5. Despite the hot year, “We did see some progress,” Widess told participants. DOSH investigated three deaths (none in agriculture) and … Read More »

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Correction on Ports Fatality Report

In our June 7 fatality investigations update (p. 10610) we stated, “The Oct. 24, 2012, death of a mechanic at the Port of Oakland while working on trolley rails was due to improper guarding, DOSH alleges.” But DOSH compliance safety and health officer David Hornung of the Oakland district office tells us, “The death of … Read More »

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DOSH Realigns Regions

Division of Occupational Safety and Health Region 1 just got a bit smaller and Region 2 a bit bigger with a realignment just announced by the Division. Under the change, Mendocino, Lake and San Benito counties, which have traditionally been part of Region 1, have been moved to Region 2. Consequently, employers who have business … Read More »

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Nine Fatalities in Late May, Early June

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating a number of workplace fatalities in the last days of May and first days of June. The incidents ran the gamut from a crushing to a vehicle encounter to a fall. May 25: An employee of Securitas Security Services, Inc., in San Bernardino was killed when a … Read More »

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