By a majority vote following a public hearing, the Cal/OSH Standards Board has adopted the following revisions to a Title 8 safety order. They have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and now are in the California Code of Regulations. PORTABLE LADDERS: Revisions to General Industry Safety Orders 3279 and 3280 were heard …
AgSafe has scheduled agricultural safety certificate courses April 29 in Bakersfield. The courses cover the first two modules in the certificate program: “Law and Regulations” and “Developing and Maintaining an Effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program.” They will run consecutively, starting at 9 a.m. The courses will be given at the Foundation for Medical Care, …
Legislation introduced earlier this year and recently approved by the Assembly Labor and Employment committee seeks to strengthen protections for employees who report hazardous workplace conditions or who refuse to work in those conditions. Sponsored by the worker safety advocacy group WORKSAFE!, AB 572, introduced by Assemblyman Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), is similar to AB …
Memorial Day commemorates the sacrifices America’s men and women have made in armed conflict, especially significant in light of recent events. But the occupational safety and health community also marks the day as a time to remember workers who have been killed or injured in the course of their employment. With that in mind, the …
A bill that would have repealed what a conservative Republican lawmaker called the “onerous” AB 2837 itself was killed by the state Assembly Labor and Employment committee 6-2, on April 3. The bill, AB 1471, was granted reconsideration as a courtesy, but a spokesman for its author, Assemblyman Ray Haynes (R-Temecula), told COR that given …
* Bob Balganorth: President, State Building and Construction Trades Council * R. J. Banks: Senior Ergonomist, State Compensation Insurance Fund * Dr. Thomas W. Bohr: Associate Professor of Neurology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine * Julianne Broyles Director of Employee Relations and Small Business, California Chamber of Commerce * Mitchell Cohen: Senior Counsel, Kaiser …
In view of today’s soaring costs of workers’ compensation insurance for specialty contractors engaged in steel erection activities, California Erectors, Bay Area, Inc., and PointSure, a Division of Kemper/Eagle Insurance Co., recently teamed up for training on the new Cal/OSHA safety requirements for steel erection. California Erectors is one of the steel erection companies currently …
Under a proposal now before the Cal/OSH Standards Board, employers would be required to provide medical assessments to employees before they use respirators under 11 substance-specific health standards. Another proposal would revise ventilation requirements for laboratory-type hood operations. Both proposals will be up for public comment at the Standards Board’s May 22 meeting in San …