California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) conducted nearly as many on-site inspections in 2010 as the previous year, but alleged violations dipped a bit, to the lowest level since 2005. Violations alleged as serious dropped as well, to the lowest level since at least 2003. On-site inspections were up in seven of the …
Cal/OSHA penalty rebates and diesel emissions control are the subjects of two occupational safety and health bills introduced this year. But there likely will be more as the session moves forward and placeholder measures are gutted and amended. Sources in the state capital say that there still are plans to move forward with legislation to …
Two Cal/OSHA agencies will convene advisory committees in late March to resolve lingering issues on employers’ duty to pay for personal protective equipment, and safely transporting agricultural workers. The Cal/OSH Standards Board’s “Pay for PPE” committee will meet in Sacramento on March 22. Last year, the board pulled a proposal intended to bring Cal/OSHA in …
In our Feb. 24 story, “A ‘Sledgehammer to Kill a Fly?” (p. 10246), we cited attorney Kevin Bland as representing the California Framing Contractors Association (CFCA) and Residential Contractors Association. Actually, Bland’s comments about the Standards Board proposal on guarding ladderway openings were on behalf of CFCA and the Western Steel Council.
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has opened investigations into a workplace fatality and several other serious incidents in recent days. The fatality was Feb. 13 at R. Mazza Masonry in Castro Valley. An employee was inside a wooden box being raised on a forklift to lift a grout hose to a coworker on …
By a majority vote following a public hearing, the following revisions to a Title 8 safety order have been adopted by the Cal/OSH Standards Board. They have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and now are in the California Code of Regulations. AIRBORNE CONTAMINANTS: Revisions to General Industry Safety Orders §5155 were heard …
SACRAMENTO — After hearing sometime emotional testimony on an alleged litany of workplace abuses from workers, their advocates and state officials about the Inland Empire warehousing industry, a key state Assembly committee chair said he would consider pursuing legislation to help improve the lot of workers. At the same hearing, industry representatives rebutted the accusations, …
A proposal initiated by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) after it lost an Appeals Board decision would create confusion in the construction industry, stakeholders told the Cal/OSH Standards Board at a Feb. 16 public hearing. One observer likened the proposal to using a “sledgehammer to kill a fly.” The proposal, an addition …