48 COR 40-8402 [¶23,103R]
CONTROL OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES – DUSTS, FUMES, MISTS, VAPORS AND GASES, RESPIRATORY PROTECTION, PERMISSIBLE PRACTICE Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 5144(a)(1) (2021) – The Division established a serious violation of §5144(a)(1) because the breathing air was contaminated with harmful dusts; employees were exposed to harmful dusts; Employer’s engineering control measures did not control employee exposure to Valley Fever as far as feasible; and appropriate respirators were not used when effective engineering controls were not feasible to prevent atmospheric contamination. CONTROL OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES – DUSTS, FUMES, MISTS, VAPORS AND GASES, RESPIRATORY PROTECTION, MEDICAL EVALUATION Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 5144(e)(1) (2021) – The Division established Employer did not provide medical evaluations before employees were fit tested or required to use respirators in the workplace. Because Employer required employees to use respirators in certain circumstances, the Appeals Board reversed the ALJ’s application of an exception to the safety order found in §5144(c) that provides employers are not required to include in a written respiratory protection program those employees whose only use of respirators involves the voluntary use of dust masks. CONTROL OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES – DUSTS, FUMES, MISTS, VAPORS AND GASES, RESPIRATORY PROTECTION, TRAINING AND INFORMATION Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 5144(k)(5) (2021) – The Division failed to establish Employer did not provide training or retraining to employees who were required to use respirators. The Division inspector’s testimony that some employees were using bandanas in lieu of face masks was based on interviews other Division inspectors conducted with employees, not personal observation. CONSTRUCTION SAFETY ORDERS – GENERAL, INJURY AND ILLNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM (IIPP) Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, §§ 1509(a), 3202(a)(6) (2021) – The Division established Employer did not effectively implement its IIPP, due to its failure to effectively identify, evaluate, and correct workplace hazards relating to cocci spores, a serious violation. Employer had procedures in its IIPP and implemented some of them, but overall failed to correct unsafe or unhealthy working practices, procedures or conditions, such as by requiring employee use of respirators when effective engineering controls were not feasible to prevent atmospheric contamination.Digest of COSHAB’s Decision After Reconsideration dated March 30, 2021, Inspection No. 1235643.
Read More...