Cal/OSHA and employers have concluded several workplace fatalities cases in recent weeks. Cal-OSHA Reporter here attempts to pick the most interesting and representative cases to review. Readers are reminded that in addition to fines assessed by Cal/OSHA, employers who are privately insured experience increases in the cost of workers’ comp as a result of fatalities …
A reader notes that Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) regulation §342(a) states that reports of fatalities or serious injuries “shall be made by the telephone or through a specified online mechanism established by the Division for this purpose.” This requirement was established by 2019’s AB 1804, written by the Assembly Labor and Employment …
The Cal/OSHA Appeals Board is considering revising its regulation on hearings so that it can formally allow video hearings. The idea creates some controversy with employers and defense attorneys. The board has been using video hearings during the pandemic under emergency authorization. Now, it would like to incorporate video permanently. “The Appeals Board continues to …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has authorized an advisory committee to discuss the remaining contentious issues surrounding lifts. It has been more than a year since the Board revised its regulation on construction personnel hoists (CPH), clarifying when hoists must be installed on high-rise projects. Like the previous issue, which was given expedited attention, Board staff …
48 COR 40-8447 [¶23,127R] JURISDICTION – PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION, INTERLOCUTORY Labor Code § 6614 (2021) – Even if Employer’s petitions for reconsideration raised questions of law, which the Appeals Board may rule on under an exception to the general rule that interlocutory matters are not appealable, the Board declined to reconsider the petitions based on …
Three significant occupational safety and health bills are moving forward in the California legislature. The most significant of them – SB 606 – has been amended again. The bill by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) was previously approved by the state Senate and is in the Assembly, where it recently passed the Labor and Employment …
The holding of video hearings before the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board has been a creature of necessity during the pandemic. But now it appears the practice could become a permanent practice of the Board. Internal people in the Department of Industrial Relations are talking about the Board’s groundbreaking efforts becoming a model for other boards and …
48 COR 40-8439 [¶23,122R] JURISDICTION – PETITION FOR RECONSIDERATION, INTERLOCUTORY Labor Code § 6614 (2021) – Even if Employer’s petition for reconsideration raised questions of law, which the Appeals Board may rule on under an exception to the general rule that interlocutory matters are not appealable, the Board declined to reconsider the petition based on …