Blog Archives

Serious Violations Alleged In Heat Deaths

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has cited a Kettleman City farm concern for two alleged serious violations, including one involving California’s landmark heat illness regulation, in the May 2007 death of a farmworker. Meanwhile, the Division also has cited a San Leandro roofer in another heat-related death and a Mojave employer following … Read More »

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Low Voltage, Litany Of Changes

Considering its size, a 119-page proposal to update Cal/OSHA’s Low Voltage Electrical Safety Orders (LVESO) generated relatively little comment at a Jan. 17 public hearing by Cal/OSH Standards Board. There were also minor comments on a proposal to create a vertical standard to ensure table saw safety. The LVESO update is based on a Fed-OSHA … Read More »

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Board Adopts Trio Of Rule Changes

Cal/OSH Standards Board adopted three safety order revision packages at its Jan. 17 meeting, including clarification of which vehicles are exempted from a provision of the Construction Safety Orders on jobsite vehicles and the number of emergency exits required in buildings, plus rules to ensure that workers have safe access to elevated locations. Jobsite Vehicles … Read More »

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Nanotech Safety Symposium, Feb. 20

Cal State Northridge Environmental and Occupational Health Alumni Association announces a Feb. 20 symposium — Nanotechnology: Science and Safety. The symposium features Dr. John Howard, director of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, plus academicians from Cal State Northridge and the University of California at Santa Barbara. The event will cover the science of … Read More »

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Bowing To Stakeholder Consensus, Standards Board Refocuses Title 8 Reform

SAN DIEGO – The slow pace of Cal/OSH Standards Board’s Title 8 reform project could ultimately prove to be one of the best things to happen to the effort to make California’s occupational safety and health code more usable. Not only has technology advanced over the years since the project began, suggesting new ways to … Read More »

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Cal/OSHA’s Building Maintenance Load Tests: Unsafe At Current Speeds?

You wouldn’t buy a used car if you couldn’t assure it would drive at top speeds safely, so why should Cal/OSHA allow window-cleaning devices to be tested at only 50% of capacity, an engineer argued to the Cal/OSH Standards Board Jan. 17. Despite his entreaties, the board denied a petition submitted by the engineer’s firm … Read More »

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“Astonishing” DAR On Blasting

Cal/OSH Appeals Board has vacated a citation to a general contractor that the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) says initiated a tunnel blast without properly warning workers. The board, in dismissing the alleged violation of General Industry Safety Orders §5291(b), said the safety order requires only that signals be given but doesn’t require … Read More »

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Governor’s Budget Includes New Funding Solution For Cal/OSHA

Under the Governor’s proposed 2008-2009 budget, major changes are planned for the funding of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The proposed budget would create new funding mechanisms to fix shortfalls in two major sources in state funding for Cal/OSHA: the Targeted Inspection and Consultation Fund (TICF) and the General Fund. The proposed … Read More »

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