Blog Archives

Christine Baker Appointed Director of DIR

Christine Baker has been officially appointed director of the Department of Industrial Relations after being appointed acting and chief deputy director back in March. Employers and labor representatives are very happy with the appointment already crediting Baker with taking big steps to introduce efficiencies and crack down on the underground economy. Baker’s formal appointment as … Read More »

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Standards Board Nixes Diesel Retrofit, Pay for PPE Votes

Swayed by objections from stakeholders and misgivings by board members themselves, the Cal/OSH Standards Board yesterday postponed a vote on its controversial diesel exhaust retrofit proposal, and scrapped altogether the current version of its “pay for PPE” proposal, instead sending the issue to an advisory committee. The diesel retrofit rule is intended to prevent on-the-ground … Read More »

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Cal/OSHA: Serious Cites Easier To Give Says Chief Counsel

Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Chief Counsel and prosecutor Amy Martin, yesterday, minced no words when addressing what she says is the part of AB 2774 that employers should put their focus on. “All people want to talk about is the stupid 1BY form,” Martin commented at the 2011 professional development conference of … Read More »

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Cal-OSHA Reporter Wins Settlement In Copyright Case

Aggressive Anti-Piracy Campaign Demonstrates that Organizations Face Serious Consequences for Illegally Copying & Distributing Content Providence Publications, parent company of Cal-OSHA Reporter, today announced that it has settled copyright infringement claims it pursued against Harbison-Mahony-Higgins Builders, Inc. (HMH Builders), a subsidiary of major construction firm Swinerton & Walberg Company. The Software and Information Industry Association … Read More »

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Emergency Preparedness: Crucial to Safety and Reputation

Cal/OSHA is placing a new found emphasis on emergency preparedness plans. Failure to have a written, well thought out emergency action plan in place can cost lives, livelihoods, and even without an accident lead employers directly to huge fines from Cal/OSHA. Cal/OSHA issues citations for not having a written plan (Title 8, section 3220). “In … Read More »

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Almost $400K Penalty Proposed in Confined Space Death

It was a textbook example of a confined-space entry gone badly: A worker enters an oxygen-deficient vessel without checking the atmosphere and without any protective equipment. He is quickly over come and fellow workers come to his aid, and are in turn overcome themselves. Now Cal/OSHA wants to throw the book at Baxter Bioscience, a … Read More »

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SB 829 Gets Its First Assembly Hearing

Newly amended SB 829, authored by Mark DeSaulnier (D-Walnut Creek), gets its first hearing before the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment. The bill proposes to significantly overhaul the way the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board does business something the proponents say is desperately needed. After being pared down and amended, are the two sides any closer … Read More »

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Assembly Budget Panel Votes to Keep Standards Board

In a positive turn for supporters of the Cal/OSHA Standards Board, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on State Administration voted 5 to 0 not to eliminate the Standards Board, in defiance of Governor Jerry Brown’s May revise recommendation. With this vote the proposal will now go to a conference committee where it must be reconciled with … Read More »

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