Blog Archives

Construction Water, Anti-Two-Block, Car Hoist, Tractor Changes Okayed

OAKLAND – In a busy but relatively brief meeting June 19, the Cal/OSH Standards Board adopted four sets of changes to Title 8 safety orders. The Board approved revisions intended to prevent potentially fatal incidents on cranes and construction personnel hoists, giving construction employers more choices for providing drinking water for workers, and clarifying the … Read More »

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

Read More »

DOSH’s New Priority Chemical List

OAKLAND – Cal/OSHA’s Health Expert Advisory Committee (HEAC) has received a revised list of priority substances to consider for possible permissible exposure limit (PEL) revisions or additions. Meeting June 17, HEAC got the revamped list and discussed draft assessments of substances already under review. HEAC has been considering a long list of chemicals, but a … Read More »

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

Read More »

Cal/VPP Turns 64

It was less than a year ago that California’s Voluntary Protection Program welcomed its 50th Star site. Now, the program has 64 participants – and counting – with the addition of several new sites in the past few weeks. Georgia-Pacific/Golden Kraft in La Mirada, Wheelabrator Energy Co. in Norwalk and United States Gypsum in Stockton … Read More »

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

Read More »

Standards Board Revises Billboard Proposal – Comments Due June 30

Cal/OSH Standards Board staff has smoothed out some of the wrinkles in a proposal addressing fall protection on outdoor advertising structures, resulting in a 15-day notice of proposed modifications. Comments on the changes are due to the board by June 30. The rulemaking package originated with a 2001 petition and subsequent advisory committee recommendations, and … Read More »

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

Read More »

Federal Court Sides With ACGIH, Fed-OSHA On Threshold Limit Values

A United States District Court judge in Georgia has granted summary judgment to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) against a coalition of trade groups and manufacturers opposed to threshold limit values on four substances. The ruling is the culmination of a four-year battle over silica, … Read More »

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

Read More »

DOSH Turns Up The Heat On Agricultural Operations In Sweeps

California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and its parent agency, the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), are in the midst of an aggressive campaign to enforce the state’s heat illness prevention standard and educate employers about their responsibilities. DOSH has conducted enforcement sweeps at dozens of agricultural operations in the past two weeks … Read More »

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

Read More »

New Life For AB 515

A bill that would fast-track cancer-causing chemicals for consideration and regulation by the Cal/OSH Standards Board passed the state Senate Committee on Environmental Quality by a vote of 5-2. AB 515, authored by Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View), still faces opposition from employers that say the current process used by Cal/OSHA for determining permissible exposure levels … Read More »

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

Read More »

White House Memo Misconstrued?

I am following up on what I believe to be erroneous statements made by both the Washington Post and the New York Times regarding the calendar for federal agency rulemaking, and repeated in your publication (News Digest, June 13). The New York Times [editorial] titled “Safety Starts at the Top,” by Susan Podziba, published June … Read More »

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

Read More »