About three years ago, Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power (DWP) was facing a deregulation crisis that was remarkably similar in some ways to what other California utilities are now facing. In order to stave off bankruptcy, DWP downsized to the tune of about 1,800 people. In one of the more controversial moves, General …
An explosion at a Chico oil distributor in the early afternoon of Feb. 13 killed one worker and injured two others, one seriously. According to Department of Industrial Relations spokesman Dean Fryer, the explosion occurred at Jesse M. Lange Distributor when employees of two contractors were cleaning one of five 50-foot petroleum sludge tanks that …
At the recent Cal/VPP workshop in Stanford, Steve Smith, director of California’s Department of Industrial Relations, observed that the state’s energy crisis is likely to last through next winter. “We’ll limp along until then,” he said, with stage two and three power alerts a daily occurrence. The director urged businesses to conserve energy. Now the …
Two new bills that became law with the new year continue reforms designed to make rulemaking in California more “user friendly” for small business. Assembly bills 505 and 1822 make a host of changes to the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Occupational safety and health won’t see much change to rulemaking; many of the reforms have …
The Cal/OSH Standards Board is proposing revisions to the Construction and General Industry safety orders that are designed to prevent the inadvertent movement of hoisted loads, which can pose a danger to construction and other workers. The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed revisions at its March 15 meeting in San Diego. …
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has concluded that exposure to some types of carbonless copy paper (CCP) can result in skin and membrane conditions and has been a factor in systemic reactions. But NIOSH fell short of proclaiming a link between CCP exposures and such serious health threats as neurologic effects …
Cal/OSHA’s Loss Control Certification Unit (LCCU), in the latest analysis of employers’ and insurers’ experience with mandatory loss-control services, concludes that services delivered to targeted employers have “a significant positive impact” on the companies’ workers’ compensation losses. The unit also noted that the Loss Control Certification Program (LCCP) “continues to meet its statutory mandate.” The …
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Davis’ proposed $77 million-plus budget for the Cal-OSHA program includes $2.5 million for a program in which grantees would provide safety training to workers in high-hazard industries. Cal/OSHA Chief John Howard announced the proposal at the Feb. 1 meeting of the Cal/OSHA Advisory Committee in the capital city. He told COR that …