A Santa Barbara handyman who was burned over more than 80% of his body on Aug. 30 has died, as details about the deadly incident continue to emerge. The 30-year-old worker, an employee of O.P. Handyman, was using lacquer thinner to remove linoleum adhesive in an unventilated laundry room near a water heater, according to Department …
In response to our Sept. 3 article about a safety manager whose vice president of production refuses to let her train production leads and supervisors on identifying hazards, and takes the attitude that she is the safety program, not the workers, we received the following responses from safety professionals. We are not identifying those who …
In our Sept. 3 story about Title 8 variances recently granted by Cal/OSH Standards Board (p. 9835), we stated in a section on a variance on strap-on footwear protection that “Standards Board staff points out that boot covers are bulky and inflexible, and are like ski boots. Activities requiring bending, squatting and kneeling could lead …
If a blast warning is given at a worksite, but workers don’t actually hear it, is it a violation of General Industry Safety Orders §5291? Not according to Cal/OSH Appeals Board. Now Cal/OSH Standards Board proposes changes to the safety order, making it mandatory that workers hear such warnings. The proposal will be the subject …
The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has cited A and F Engineering for eight alleged serious violations and proposed nearly $63,000 in penalties, saying that untrained flaggers and a dump truck missing safety devices contributed to a December 2009 fatality. Jose Villanueva, 26, was killed by a dump truck that was backing up …
A worker at a San Diego laboratory lost the tip of his finger in a 2008 incident while cutting and preparing tissue samples on a Microtome machine. That led to Cal/OSHA citations and later a variance from the Standards Board, which recognizes that the process the company uses is inherently safe. The Division of Occupational …
One of the most significant pieces of occupational safety and health legislation in recent years is on its way to the governor. After months of negotiations with labor, employers removed their opposition to AB 2774, authored by Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland), a strong indication that the governor will sign it. Negotiations were also successful thanks to …
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is investigating a late-August logging fatality in Humboldt County, the second such incident in the county in the past week. The incident occurred Aug. 24 in Loleta, involving an employee of Steve Wills Trucking & Logging. According to Department of Industrial Relations press officer Krisann Chasarik, a …