Labor Code 4558(b) has since 1982 put an employer who knowingly removes, or fails to install, a point-of-operation guard on a power press at risk for civil damages if an employee in injured for lack of a guard. So the obvious defense has been, yes, someone was injured, but not by a power press. The …
The City of Moorpark court case, in which an injured worker set a precedent by being able to sue in civil court under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, has been settled for $120,000, according to our sister publication, Workers’ Comp Executive (WCE). (See also NEWS, p. 6991.) The injured worker, Theresa Dillon sued the …
California Safety Services Groups’ Eleventh Annual Cal/OSHA Update seminar series will hold its last two sessions April 13 at the Holiday Inn, 500 Hegenberger Rd., Oakland and April 14 at the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza, 300 I St., Sacramento. This highly regarded series features Bob Peterson and Joel Cohen, co-authors of The Cal/OSHA Source. This …
While Cal/OSHA and the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSHIB) have been going about their business since the Tosco Avon Refinery accident in late February, a new entity has joined the front-line. Contra Costa County’s Hazardous Materials Division, part of the county Health Department, is embarking on a comprehensive safety audit of the ill-fated …
The California State Senate has confirmed Steven J. Smith as director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), following a recommendation from the Senate Rules Committee. As director, Smith is a member of Gov. Gray Davis’ cabinet, the state designee for the Cal/OSHA Program, the Administrator of Apprenticeship and an ex-officio member of the State …
Healdsburg’s Williams Selyem Winery has been cited by Cal/OSHA for two serious and two general violations of safety standards, with proposed penalties of $6,400. Twenty-year-old Taylor James Atkins was killed when he climbed into a 1,500-gallon wine tank, which was filled with nitrogen. Atkins may have been attempting to retrieve a gauge that had fallen …
While federal, state and local investigators are attempting to look back to determine what led to the fatal explosion at the Tosco Avon Refinery in Martinez, labor and industry representatives in Contra Costa County are looking ahead to come up with better ways to protect workers. Contra Costa is the refinery capital of northern California, …
Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is the new chairman of the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee. Steinberg, a graduate of UCLA in economics, with a law degree from UC-Davis, served as an employee rights attorney for the California State Employees Association for 10 years before becoming a private arbitrator and mediator. Steinberg was elected to the …