More than eight years after a nurses’ association petitioned the Cal/OSHA Standards Board for protection from the surgical plume, work is beginning to progress. A Division of Occupational Safety and Health-led committee will meet on January 20th via Zoom to discuss a draft proposal. The 2017 petition by the California Nurses Association followed closely the …
California’s legislative season is over, marked by the Governor acting on bills of interest to the occupational safety and health community. Two of the most significant bills signed by the Governor involve protections for firefighters from the toxic effects of battery fires and from components of firefighting equipment itself. They include Assembly Bills 841 and …
The state legislature has approved three bills of interest to California’s occupational safety and health community, and they are now awaiting the governor’s action. The foremost of these bills is SB 20 (Senator Caroline Menjivar, D-Van Nuys), aimed at addressing the silicosis crisis in the engineered stone industry. SB 20 no longer would create a …
Five bills of interest to the occupational safety and health community have received approval from the state Legislature’s Appropriations committees and will now head to the full chambers. One bill that is being held under submission in Senate Appropriations is AB 694 by Assemblyman Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), which might have gotten a boost at the …
As the California Legislature prepares to resume this year’s session after its summer break, here’s a roundup of still active occupational safety and health-related legislation, whether likely or unlikely to pass this session. The most significant legislation is SB 20 by Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-Van Nuys). It was approved 38-0 by the Senate in early …
SB 20: Senator Caroline Menjivar’s (D-Van Nuys) bill to place new restrictions on engineered stone fabrication shops was approved 6-0 by the Senate Appropriations Committee. It is now under consideration by the full chamber. The bill is the second attempt in as many years to initiate a certification process for these fabrication shops in light …
Several bills of interest to California’s occupational safety and health community are moving through their respective houses of origin. Here’s the status of the latest legislation. AB 694, by Assemblyman Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), seeks to develop a “pipeline program” for the Cal/OSHA inspection force, given its longstanding vacancy rate and difficulty finding enough qualified inspectors. …
After an Assembly bill last session that would have required fabricators of engineered stone to be certified and employees to certify through training failed, a state senator is reviving the measure in the new legislative session. Some see the bill as a legislative usurpation of Cal/OSHA’s responsibility to develop standards. Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando …