Blog Archives

Company Seeks Changes to Heat Illness Regulation to Require Kits

A Napa man has petitioned the Cal/OSH Standards Board to revise California’s heat illness prevention standard to provide “an opportunity to better survive death and injury from exposures to heat stress and dehydration.” Garth Patterson of Heat Relief Solutions says the current General Industry Safety Orders §3395 will continue to be open-ended “and the loop … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

“There’s Only One Bob”

COMMERCE — An emotional Don Kramer remembered his move from Oregon’s Willamette Valley to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and all the heat he got from friends and family for going from a lush agricultural paradise to America’s freeway capital, long removed from its agricultural roots. He even got a few quizzical comments from … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

DOSH Issues More OPUs

Continuing its campaign to enforce California’s heat illness prevention standard as the summer continues to sizzle, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) halted work at three sites earlier this month – including two construction sites. Orders Prohibiting Use (OPUs) were issued Aug. 11 and 12 in Bakersfield and Sacramento. In the first instance, … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Workplace Fatality Reporting Reg Is Most Appealed Cal/OSHA Standard

Violations of Cal/OSHA’s workplace fatality and serious injury reporting standard numbered about the same in 2008 as the previous year, but the percentage of violations that employers appealed jumped by several percentage points last year.  Section 342(a) violations remained the top most-appealed Title 8 standard for the second year in a row. Of the 526 … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Cal/OSHA Committee to Look at Engineered Scaffold Plank Standards

  Cal/OSHA wants to ensure that California construction workers are on solid footing when they step onto scaffold planking, so it is convening an advisory committee that meets Sept. 2 and 3 in Sacramento to discuss design and construction criteria for “engineered” scaffold planks and decks. Potential revisions to Construction Safety Orders §§ 1504, 1637(f) … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Are We the “Enlightened 50%”?

Our July 31 editorial, “The Missing Mr. Moreno Must Move” (p. 9515) elicited the following response from Phil George, senior engineer for Stimpel-Wiebelhaus Associates of Redding: “Although I can support the fact that a board member who does not devote the time and talent to perform or attend meetings should be replaced, I cannot be … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

Grape Machine Harvesting: Danger in the Vineyard Calls for Vigilance

  NAPA — In about a month, California’s wine grape harvest will begin. It’s a celebration of the Golden State’s bounty, but one increasingly popular technique also presents a bounty of danger. Machine harvesting of grapes is growing in use. In certain parts of the state, such as the Central Coast and Lake County, it … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »

DOSH to Dismantle Amusement Ride After It Dangles G.A. Patrons

Cal/OSHA’s Amusement Ride Unit will take apart the Invertigo ride at Santa Clara’s Great America amusement park after two dozen patrons were stuck, suspended up to 80 feet in the air, when a chain lift failed Aug. 10. Riders had to be placed in safety harnesses by emergency responders and taken off the ride into … Read More »

This content is only available to premium subscribers. Please login here log in

Read More »