OAKLAND — Proposed changes to Cal/OSHA regulations on acceptable scaffold planking would “put an end” to the use of hazardous, low-quality planking, stakeholders told Cal/OSH Standards Board at a June 17 public hearing on the revisions. As an added benefit, one safety manager said, it will take some of the comedy out of teaching one …
Cal/OSH Standards Board has denied a petition to revise Construction Safety Orders fall protection provisions to increase restrictions on certain materials used in fall arrest applications. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health called the main proposal by petitioner Timothy Galpin of Spanco, Inc., “both a bad idea and unnecessary.” Galpin sought changes to CSO …
Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Chief Len Welsh says the California heat illness prevention standard will not be revised in time for the 2010 heat season, which has already begun. Legislative efforts have started in the statehouse (see accompanying story), but if the legislation proves successful, it wouldn’t take effect until next year. …
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is investigating two workplace fatalities in recent days, including a June 8 incident in Alhambra that took the life of a welder. The worker was employed by KSM Construction, a manufacturer of steel frames. He was found on the ground in the company’s yard area, unconscious and unresponsive, …
Central Coast Builders’ Exchange and Salinas Valley Builders’ Exchange present a heat illness prevention workshop June 30 in Salinas. The workshop, which costs $10, covers preparing for Cal/OSHA inspections and the latest on heat illness prevention, including best practices, shade, water, training, monitoring temperatures, acclimation and rest breaks. It features Cal/OSHA Consultation Service’s Mike Alvarez, …
If you worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory between 1950 and 1973 and became ill as a result, you might be eligible for benefits from a federal compensation program. The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying all former Lawrence Livermore workers employed at the complex for those 23 years about a new class of employees in a …
It’s getting hot out there and Sen. Dean Florez (D-Los Angeles) is moving forward with SB 477, legislation that would put outdoor heat illness prevention standards into statute. SB 477 would specify requirements for employers to provide employees access to shade when the temperature hits 85°F. Furthermore, employers would be required to implement high-heat procedures …
CORONA — Ask Rudy Lopez, risk manager for County Line Framing in Calimesa, how things are going these days for the business, and he’s got a quick answer: “I tell my workers not to cut their fingernails, because they need them to hang on.” Times are tough in the construction framing industry, but the good …