Blog Archives

Senate Committee Probes Combining Cal/OSHA, W.C. Appeals Boards

Finding recent testimony convincing, the Legislature is content to leave the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board and the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board in their present forms. It came as a relief to many, despite suggestions of paring back or even combining the two. The Appeals Boards serve as specialty courts, both on an … Read More »

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Rolling Scaffold Revisions Okayed

OAKLAND — Virtually lost in the shuffle in a meeting dominated by discussion of heat illness prevention, the Cal/OSH Standards Board adopted long-sought revisions to the Construction Safety Orders (CSO) that allow drywall and other workers to “self-propel” on rolling scaffolds, a practice also known as scaffold surfing. The board also approved revisions on high-visibility … Read More »

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“Great Reservations” Prompt Board to Reject Emergency Heat Changes

OAKLAND — Ultimately, after more than three hours of testimony from the public, impassioned comments from one member of the Cal/OSH Standards Board and a warning that workers could die if improvements aren’t made to California’s heat illness prevention standard, the board couldn’t even muster a motion to vote on changes sought by the Division … Read More »

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Enough, Already, Traeger Says About “Cease and Desist” Letter from DOSH Inspectors

Candice Traeger, chair of the Cal/OSH Appeals Board, received an earful June 22 from a legislative committee about a letter sent by 47 Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) staff people criticizing the appeals process. The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the duties and functions of the Appeals Board, with an eye … Read More »

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DOSH Officers to Appeals Board: “Cease and Desist” Unfair Practices

In an open letter to the Cal/OSH Appeals Board, 47 representatives of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) — including eight district managers — have demanded that the board “cease and desist” from practices they say undermine their ability to protect workers. The DOSH personnel decry the board’s practice of scheduling several hearings … Read More »

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Lack of Machine Guarding Leads to Amputation at Los Banos Tomato Plant

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating a June 11 incident at a tomato processing facility in the San Joaquin Valley that caused a worker to lose most of an arm. The incident occurred as the 23-year-old worker and two fellow employees were setting up a conveyor for the start of the tomato processing … Read More »

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Vicky Heza on Deputy Chief Tenure

As we reported in COR’s June 12 issue (p. 9487), Gov. Schwarzenegger has named a new Deputy Chief for Cal/OSHA Enforcement, Chris Lee. The move ends the almost 10-year tenure of Vicky Heza, who will remain in a leadership position at the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and, at least for the time being, … Read More »

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Pros and Cons on Heat Revisions

I am in full support of DOSH’s new heat requirements. I am from the Sacramento region, however I have vacationed over the past 20 years in the Watsonville and Santa Cruz geographic area. In doing so, I have enjoyed over those years observing agricultural farms and not just the ocean scenic views. I have a … Read More »

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