A Fremont general contractor faces Cal/OSHA allegations of willful violations and more than $168,000 in penalties in a January excavation collapse that killed a 37-year-old worker. What’s more, the contractor has lost its license and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health is likely to refer the case to the Santa Clara County district attorney …
Nine members of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) California chapters were honored as “Chapter Stars” at the organization’s Professional Development Conference in Denver. ASSE named two Region 1 chapters as Chapters of the Year, including Hawaii and Midnight Sun (Alaska). Region 1 garnered a record number of honors for one region, with 17 of …
Gov. Jerry Brown has named three veteran safety professionals to the Cal/OSH Standards Board. That leaves the board with one expired term — public member and chair John MacLeod, whose term was up on June 1. The new members are David Harrison, 40, safety director at Operating Engineers Local 3, Laura Stock, 57, associate director …
As the Division of Occupational Safety and Health prepares for today’s Heat Illness Prevention Network (HIPN) conference call, the first of 2012, the agency announces that it is investigating a new suspected heat-related fatality. It follows another recent investigation begun in May on a worker death in high heat. The cases involved construction and agricultural …
Predicting a wave of “carve outs” to the California ergonomics standard, members of the Cal/OSH Standards Board denied even an advisory committee on a union petition to craft protections for hotel housekeeping workers. Board staff had recommended forming a committee, but four members of the board — Bill Jackson, Jack Kastorff, Willie Washington and Guy …
Cal/OSHA says employees at a Southern California paint manufacturing facility were so ignorant about confined-space dangers that when they saw two coworkers sitting in a tank filled with methylene chloride, they assumed they were “taking a break.” Instead, the workers had been overcome. One died and the other required hospitalization. Now the Division of Occupational …
A worker was buried in loose soil in a deep excavation at a Beverly Hills residential project on May 10, killing the worker. Although details are sparse on the incident at the moment, Cal/OSHA has determined that the sizable trench had no shoring. The worker’s employer has not yet been determined, the Division of Occupational …
With overwhelming support from all stakeholders, Christine Baker, director of the Department of Industrial Relations and Rosa Moran, administrative director of the Division of Workers’ Compensation sailed through confirmation. What are the issues currently confronting the duo and what challenges do they face in the coming months. Click here to get all the answers in our video …