It took only a drop or two of a highly flammable chemical to set off a reaction that severely burned and ultimately killed a University of California-Los Angeles research associate last December. Concluding an investigation, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has cited the school’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for failing to …
The current $125 per hour that the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Amusement Ride Unit charges for inspections, investigations and audits of permanent and portable rides isn’t nearly enough to cover costs for the two programs, so the Division proposes a big increase in fees. DOSH plans a public hearing on the new …
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) reports the following fatality investigations in late April: April 28: The DOSH Santa Rosa district office was notified of a fatality involving an employee of JMB Construction in Novato. The worker was assisting a crane crew with moving a portion of an enclosure when he collapsed while …
The death several years ago of a mineworker descending a caged ladder prompted Cal/OSHA to look at strengthening its regulations, and the result is a proposal scheduled for a June 18 public hearing in Oakland before the Cal/OSH Standards Board. The hearing also includes a proposal to clarify regulations on electric blasting in proximity to …
Legislation requiring the Cal/OSH Standards Board to adopt a new standard to prevent indoor heat illness is meeting resistance from employers who say it’s unnecessary. AB 838, authored by Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland), passed the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on a party line vote after sparring between proponents and opponents. Swanson’s bill doesn’t outline what …
The owner of a Santa Rosa roofing company has been sentenced to jail and ordered to pay $250,000 in fines and restitution in connection with two incidents in 2006 that left one worker dead and another with major head trauma. The Sonoma County District Attorney obtained a no-contest plea from Kenneth Hugh Alton, 57, owner …
During the 15-year period between 1992 and 2007, some 1,285 workers in tree trimming, pruning and removal died in the United States, almost half of them (44%) involved in trimming or pruning, according to a new study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The study, published in the April 24 Morbidity …
A moment of insight by a Sacramento entrepreneur led to a three-year effort to devise a better way to move and hang doors and other heavy, flat objects. The result is a simple device that could prevent back strain in a number of workplace settings. Trong Nguyen, who invented three devices — Door Pal, Door …