The California Legislature has approved two bills affecting occupational safety and health. AB 2321, related to Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations, and SB 1046, which seeks to protect outdoor workers along the southern border from “transboundary pollution,” await action by the governor. A third bill, SB 966, related to refinery safety, has been placed in the …
California, and indeed the nation, have a history of violence toward healthcare workers. Cal/OSHA adopted a new workplace violence prevention standard for healthcare in 2016, but it is unclear how effective that regulation has been. A 2024 law from the state legislature, AB 2975, aims to buttress the Cal/OSHA standard by requiring weapons detection in …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has released draft language for its outdoor and indoor heat illness regulations aimed at harmonizing the regulations with each other. It’s unclear how the new changes relate to the enabling legislation, 2022’s AB 2243, but one thing is clear: The draft language would remove exemptions in the outdoor …
Three pieces of legislation of interest to California’s occupational safety and health community are advancing as the California Legislature heads to the end of its session. AB 2321, aimed at reforming procedures related to Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations, was, as Cal-OSHA Reporter went to press, close to passage in the state Senate. Recent amendments mean …
DOSH expenditures – including the Standards and Appeals boards – are pegged at some $290 million for the new fiscal year, which began in July, a 2% increase over 2025-26 expenditures. There were no budget cuts from last year. The budget includes funding for several budget change proposals (BCPs), such as the ongoing Cal/OSHA data …
Three bills of interest to the occupational safety and health community are moving forward in their houses of origin. They include AB 2321 regarding Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations (BOI); SB 1046 to protect outdoor workers along the southern border from “transboundary pollution”; and AB 2499, which seeks to protect both employees and inmate workers from …
AB 2321, Assemblyman Liz Ortega’s bill that would require local prosecutors to investigate fatality and total permanent disability cases, instead of Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations, is intended to “alleviate” BOI of some of its workload, the legislator says. Ortega, chair of the Assembly Labor and Employment committee, is a fierce critic of Cal/OSHA enforcement and …
At last August’s legislative hearing on the results of a critical audit of Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Assemblyman Liz Ortega (D-Hayward) expressed special ire over the performance of the Bureau of Investigations (BOI). “When do you decide to hold an employer accountable,” following a workplace fatality, she asked DOSH Chief Debra Lee, …