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 …
A California business owner who petitioned for a major overhaul of Cal/OSHA regulations on paint spray booths might be right in the main thrust of his proposal. But if the whole petition were granted, it would create an unnecessary avalanche of work for the Standards Board and might lead to unintended consequences detrimental to worker …
Workers at Crockett’s C&H Sugar plant complained of substandard safety conditions at the aging facility, prompting an investigation by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). Employees felt so strongly about the safety hazards that more than 50 of them signed one of the six complaints asking for Cal/OSHA action, according to Deputy Chief …
Cal/OSHA’s website http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Confined_Space_Emphasis_Program.html lists some confined-space resources. The first one, “Confined Space Hazard Alert,” issued Jan. 30, 2012, at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_publications/ConfinedSpaceHazardAlert.pdf has a section halfway down the first page, “What Is A Confined Space?” listing five criteria: “Is large enough and configured such that an employee can bodily enter and perform work; “Has limited openings for entry …
A major labor organization has written to the California Legislature urging it to reject a proposal to eliminate the Cal/OSH Standards Board. Meanwhile, the former principal engineer for the board, who in the 1970s helped draft the enabling legislation for the California Occupational Safety and Health Act, called on management and labor to help stop …
Cal/OSHA’s new confined-space special emphasis program (SEP) is built on education, consultation and enforcement. And when it comes to enforcement, expect DOSH to look closely at your confined-space program to see if it passes muster. California suffered seven confined-space deaths last year — more than 300% more than both 2010 and 2009 and almost double …
By a majority vote following public hearings, the following revisions to Title 8 safety orders 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. VEHICLE EXHAUST RETROFITS: Revisions to Construction Safety Orders (CSO) §§ 1504, 1591, Appendix …
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and the Oakland Fire Department teamed up on Feb. 14 to launch Cal/OSHA’s new confined space special emphasis program. In a news conference attended by Bay Area media at the department’s training center, DOSH Chief Ellen Widess explained the genesis of the program and how important it is …