California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health reports that work by an advisory committee convened to reform procedures under which airborne contaminants permissible exposure limits (PELs) are set or revised is nearly complete. The Division recently released the fourth draft of the Policy and Procedure for the PEL process, which DOSH Acting Chief Len Welsh …
OAKLAND – It’s long been a sore point among Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) industrial hygienists: Because they are represented by a different bargaining unit, IHs are paid less than safety engineers, despite educational qualifications at least equal to that of their peers. This disparity has prompted a number of DOSH IHs to …
Construction general contractors hoping for “due diligence” relief on multiemployer worksite citations are expected to get a decision from California’s Third District Court of Appeal in the seminal Overaa Construction case by spring. Attorneys for both sides of the case presented oral arguments Dec. 11, 2006, and the court is considering their merits. At issue …
California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating a Jan. 15 fire at the Chevron Corp. Richmond Refinery, in which a worker suffered minor burns and which angered nearby residents because of allegedly slow warnings to neighborhoods. According to DOSH, employees were preparing to shut down the refinery’s Crude Unit for a scheduled turnaround …
It probably will be too late for the 2007 snow season, but changes proposed by the Cal/OSH Standards Board will formally recognize practices used by ski resorts to prevent avalanches. The proposal, along with another related to laser safety, will be the subject of a public hearing before the board Feb. 15 in Oakland. The …
By a majority vote after public hearings, the following Title 8 safety order revisions have been adopted by the Cal/OSH Standards Board. They have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and now are in the California Code of Regulations. MOBILE AND TOWER CRANE OPERATOR CERTIFICATION/EXCEPTION 2: Revisions to General Industry Safety Orders (GISO) …
SACRAMENTO – The Cal/OSH Standards Board has denied a variance request from a Southern California company that has taken the term “riding the load” to new heights. Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals, which operates at the Port of Long Beach, has, for at least a decade, placed bulldozers, operators included, into the holds of ships using …
Two serious incidents within a year – the first one a fatality – earned a Sonoma County roofing company a citation for a willful violation after a second worker was seriously injured last September after falling through a skylight. The Division has proposed more than $70,000 in penalties in the case. The latest incident involving …