Northern California’s Construction Employers’ Association has recognized 18 contractors with its President’s Safety Awards and another employer as Most Improved Safety Program. The awards are the first of CEA’s two-part award program. In February, it will recognize even more employers – 60, in fact – with Excellence in Safety Awards. CEA honored Vance Brown, Inc., …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board will hold advisory talks starting on April 1st to discuss whether the Title 8 standards for construction personnel hoists contain outdated sections. The action is based on a 2021 petition by elevator consultant Ronald High of San Diego, who says that the standards, Construction Safety Orders § § 1604 and 1605, …
After a more than two-month delay due to the federal government shutdown, the latest Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) has been published. The 2024 estimates for California show a 4% drop in incidents, following a 17% drop the previous year. The national SOII shows a decline of 3.1% from 2023, with about 2.5 …
Manufacturers of engineered stone products are making a full-court press to, as they see it, keep their industry alive, amid a growing silicosis crisis. At the national level, they support House Resolution 5437 (Rep. Tom McClintock, R-CA), which would prohibit civil suits against such manufacturers and slab wholesalers for silicosis resulting from the fabrication process. …
After many years and a false start in 2022, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board has reintroduced an update to its requirements for employers’ first-aid kits. But, as has been pointed out before, something seemingly simple often can be anything but. That fact was underscored by many at the Board’s January public hearing on the proposal. “We …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board’s just-proposed revisions to the Process Safety Management standard for refineries solve a “clarity problem, an ambiguity problem, and a potential preemption problem,” according to Division of Occupational Safety and Health deputy chief Carl Paganelli. And most importantly, he says, it solves a legal problem. The revisions were up at a public …
There are six new California workplace fatalities, three from struck-by incidents. In Somis, an employee of Wonderful Citrus was operating a tractor near a slope and hauling a trailer. The tractor toppled and landed on the employee, who was declared dead at the scene. The ag employer has an experience modification rating (EMR) of .69 …
Accusing California’s Department of Motor Vehicles of backtracking on its agreement to bring its procedures for issuing commercial drivers’ licenses up to federal standards, the U.S. Department of Transportation says it is pulling more than $158 million in funding pegged for road safety in California. DMV, meanwhile, says the Feds acted in bad faith, cut …