Blog Archives

Firefighters’ Next PPE Committee

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board will reconvene an advisory committee on November 15th to consider remaining issues from adopting personal protective equipment requirements for firefighters. The committee will discuss in-service PPE for fighting structural and proximity fires, including draft language. It would require in General Industry Safety Orders §3401 that agencies develop and require the use … Read More »

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Workplace Fatality Update – Nov 4, 2022

There are five new workplace fatalities in California, three from falls. They include: A fall in Winton, where an employee of D/M Heating and Air was cutting out an opening for an air conditioning unit when he fell through the opening and landed on his head. Torrance, an employee of CBRE, a real estate firm, … Read More »

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Board Demands Exclusion Pay In New Covid Standard

For months, labor has criticized the decision by Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health to drop “exclusion pay” from the non-emergency version of the COVID prevention standard. Its advocacy has paid off. During the Standards Board’s October meeting in San Diego, several members of the Board, including Chair David Thomas, forcefully urged DOSH to … Read More »

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Does First-Aid Kit Proposal Have a Boo-Boo?

Proving once again that nothing is easy, Cal/OSHA Standards Board’s latest move to simplify reforms to its first-aid kits requirements – more than 15 years after reforms were first requested – has prompted more questions from stakeholders. One employer representative even suggested that a Standard Regulatory Impact Assessment might be necessary for the recent revisions. … Read More »

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Appeals Court Upholds Decision for Hirer

Ricky Miller, Jr., was an employee of Tri-Valley Amusement, Inc., owned by Charlie Gelatini. The Moose lodge hired Tri-Valley to move an ATM, and Miller and Gelantini were on hand for the project. Miller fell from a lodge-owned rolling scaffold while examining the ceiling to determine where he could run the ATM’s data cables. Miller … Read More »

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Four Bridges and a Single Safety Focus

Myers & Sons Construction has a long track record of taking on challenging projects and completing them in record time – with an enviable safety record. The latest project includes four bridges at three separate sites to address seismic safety on the aging structures along the Mokulumne and Sacramento rivers. They include side-by-side bridges crossing … Read More »

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COVID Rule Changes

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has revised its “non-emergency” COVID proposal to revise the definition of “close contact” in keeping with California Department of Public Health changes. It also has made revisions based on stakeholder comments. The Board is accepting public comments on the modifications until October 31st. That despite the public having stopped wearing masks … Read More »

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Amy’s Kitchen Settles Citations

Amy’s Kitchen, a Petaluma organic foods manufacturer and retailer that has been the subject of safety controversy amid a unionization effort, has settled three Cal/OSHA citation cases involving serious injuries. Another sizable case based on complaints is still pending. Complaints to Cal/OSHA are not an uncommon organizing tactic. The citations have settled for fractions of … Read More »

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