There are three new recent workplace fatalities. Two are from employees being struck by vehicles. In Ontario, an employee of Union Pacific Railroad was retrieving merchandise from his car on the street when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle and killed. In Los Angeles, an employee of Rowlett Towing was assisting a motorist on …
Continuous improvement is the watchword of the Voluntary Protection Program. Now Fed-OSHA is looking to improve the national version of the 40-year-old program, and Cal/OSHA could be a leader in the process. The investigative journalist team at ProPublica recently revealed that two former federal-certified VPP plants used asbestos in their East Coast operations and exposed …
Cal/OSHA will convene a legislatively mandated advisory committee to start studying the effects of heat on California’s work environment. AB 1643, signed into law last year, establishes the committee to look at the effects of heat on employees, businesses, and the economy. It is to report back to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The …
Three bills with implications for occupational safety and health have passed their houses of origin and are moving on in the state legislature. Two of them pose major questions. AB 521 Construction: Authored by Assemblyman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-San Ramon). It would require Cal/OSHA to adopt a regulation by 2025 requiring construction sites with at least …
There are four more California workplace fatalities, all resulting from falls. In Tahoe City, an employee of Optimum Cable fell off a ladder, suffered a critical head injury and succumbed. In Compton, an employee of the Ralphs grocery chain fell from a pallet jack. In South El Monte, an employee of distributor Botanas Mexico was …
Fed-OSHA is making available almost $13 million in funding for new Susan Harwood Training Grants. California organizations typically receive about 15% of the national grants. The grants include: Targeted topics to identify and prevent OSHA-designated workplace hazards Training and educational materials development for “quality” materials that help identify and prevent hazards; and Capacity-building programs that …
Each week, Cal-OSHA Reporter provides an update on California’s workplace fatalities. The cases are documents for subscribers through the Cal/OSHA process, from citation to resolution – most often at the Appeals Board. Here is the latest on cases from the second half of 2022. Most employers appealed, some have already settled out, and in several …