By a majority vote, the Cal/OSH Standards Board adopted revisions to the following Title 8 safety orders. They have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and are now in the California Code of Regulations. CONVEYOR CROSSOVERS: Revisions to General Industry Safety Orders (GISO) 3207 and 3999 were heard at the Sept. 16, 1999, …
Responding to a barrage of criticism from employer representatives, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has revised several proposals that were inserted into the final rulemaking package implementing AB 1127. The sections in question were added to the 1127 package after emergency rulemaking became effective Jan. 1. The proposals are intended to bring …
Contractors around the state have been anticipating a new program from Cal/OSHA Consultation – a pilot project specifically designed to bring the construction industry into the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Now, the company that agreed to be a “guinea pig” for the innovative new Pilot Project for Construction Contractors, is well on its way to …
Cal/OSHA Consultation Service Program Manager has apologized to the California Labor Federation for what he termed “inappropriate language” in the service’s 1999 Summary & Analysis of Ergonomic Losses and Action Plans. The summary was released at the March meeting of the Cal/OSHA Advisory Committee. The document outlined the results of surveys the High Hazard Consultation …
Our March 17 story, “Appeals Board Gets a Quorum” (NEWS, p. 7346) was erroneous in that it implied that when Executive Officer Janet Eagan was named a deputy member of the board, she would have to be replaced as executive officer. In fact, she would have remained as executive officer and would serve as deputy …
Vowing never to return to the controversial Tosco Avon refinery, a crew of contract ironworkers refused to continue working at the plant following another fire there, which injured two workers. The fire broke out at the refinery’s alkylation unit March 22. According to reports, firefighting water that had been sprayed on the ground near the …
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued an alert regarding potentially deadly cylinders of class D breathing air used for working in dangerous atmospheres. Fed-OSHA is investigating the whereabouts of the cylinders after two painters died in a Channelview, Texas, accident March 21. Channelview is in the Houston metropolitan area. The painters were …
Another worker was killed in the Houston area March 27 following an explosion at a Phillips Petroleum Co. facility in Pasadena, near the Houston Ship Channel. At least 71 people were injured in the incident, three of them seriously, according to newspaper reports. The chemical complex has been the scene of two other fatal incidents …