Cal-OSHA Reporter editorials rarely speak to confirmations. This is one of those exceptions we can’t help but make. We ask and encourage the Senate to unanimously confirm the appointment of Christine Baker as Director of the Department of Industrial Relations. Rarely have we seen as effective a leader who can both get things done and …
Cal/OSHA has cited two employers in the October 2011 deaths of two brothers at a Lamont recycling center. The incident spurred the agency’s Confined Space Emphasis Program and was the “last straw” for new Division of Occupational Safety and Health Chief Ellen Widess after a spate of confined space deaths during the year. DOSH has …
Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-El Segundo) has just introduced a bill she says will add teeth to the current California heat illness regulations. It will allow farm workers to sue their employers if they allege the employers don’t comply with Cal/OSHA Regulations. Sponsored by the United Farm Workers, AB 2346 — The Farm Worker Safety …
A state Senate committee this morning rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to eliminate the Cal/OSH Standards Board and following a similar vote yesterday in the Assembly, spells the end of the controversial plan. The vote in the three-member Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee #5 was 2-0. On March 7, Assembly Committee #4 — State …
Ellen Widess, chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, has been confirmed by the Senate Rules Committee by a vote of 5-0. Widess was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in April. At her confirmation hearing Widess received strong support from both labor and employer groups. There was no opposition. Widess is no stranger …
Three Southern California employers have been cited with fines totaling more than $500,000 — two for alleged willful violations — in the August 2011 explosion at a Sylmar worksite that severely injured two. The explosion echoes another which involved related parties. A controversy has developed as to the basic facts of the case. The facts …
After a series of inspections at four mega-warehouses in Chino, Cal/OSHA’s High-Hazard Unit has issued dozens of citations to National Distribution Centers and its temporary staffing agency, Tri-State Staffing. Almost half the citations are for alleged serious violations. Between the two companies, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) proposes more than $256,000 in …
Construction safety advocates finally got the workplace protections they have been seeking for several years on diesel particulate filter retrofits. The Cal/OSH Standards Board voted unanimously on Dec. 15 to approve changes to several safety orders to help ensure that workers aren’t run over by heavy equipment refitted with bulky filters meant to cut down …