Against a backdrop where more and more California employers are becoming concerned about Cal/OSHA’s new administration, and more than one year after they were indicted by the San Francisco County grand jury for involuntary manslaughter in the death of a roofer, two men have accepted a plea deal and have each been sentenced to a …
In what could be a harbinger of an increasingly aggressive enforcement stance by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), the agency has hit a Southern California construction contractor with three serious and willful allegations and heavy proposed penalties after investigating a 2010 flash fire that left a worker severely burned. DOSH seeks penalties …
California Gov. Jerry Brown’s May budget revise includes a move that has long been rumored: the elimination of the nationally renowned and respected Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, also known as the Cal-OSHA Standards Board. The move would eliminate about two Standards Board jobs and save the state only $324,000. Under the Governor’s proposal, …
Members of California’s occupational safety and health community were looking forward to meeting new Division of Occupational Safety and Health Chief Ellen Widess at the May 5 Cal/OSHA Advisory Committee meeting in Fresno. Instead, they’ll have to wait as Widess has cancelled the meeting because of a May 26 executive order by Gov. Jerry Brown …
The processes and procedures of the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board have bothered, if not infuriated, labor advocates for years. After trying to reform the appeals process through discussion, they’ve finally decided to go to the Legislature. SB 829, authored by Mark De Saulnier (D-Walnut Creek), proposes a comprehensive overhaul to the way business is conducted before …
There will be a new chief at the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) begining April 15th. Ellen Widess, 63, who oversaw the Division’s pesticide program from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, will take over for Chief Len Welsh, who has run the agency since 2003. The governor’s office also has announced …
Gov. Jerry Brown has rescinded the appointment of Vicki Marti as public member of the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, effective March 30. The governor has not yet named a replacement for Marti, but is expected to do so this week. “I can confirm that Vicki Marti’s services were no longer required,” said Brown …
Cal-OSHA Reporter’s Kevin Thompson got an exclusive interview with Marty Morgenstern, California’s new Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. LWD provides oversight and direction to the Department of Industrial Relations which oversee many workers’ comp and occupational safety and health divisions. This video has a few important and newsworthy statements by Secretary Morgenstern. …