Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations has published its 2024 annual report, bringing the Bureau up to date on public release of its legislatively mandated annual reports. The report is over a year late. More reporting is due. The 2025 report was to have been submitted by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to the Department …
The six-month clock is ticking down on the Cal/OSHA Standards Board. Time is running out, as the Board approaches its decision on whether to ban the fabrication of engineered stone in California. The rulemaking body is getting pressure from all sides. Attorneys appeared at the recent Board meeting in Santa Rosa on behalf of clients …
The six-foot fall protection trigger is firmly in place for California’s residential construction. But industry advocates have one more shot at getting what they see as better alternatives for framing work. The Housing Contractors of California (HCA), California Framing Association, Residential Contractors Association, and Western States Regional Council of Carpenters petitioned the Standards Board last …
In March, the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board issued a Decision After Reconsideration in the case KPRS Construction Services, reversing an administrative law judge’s decision and restoring $45,000 in penalties against the Brea contractor. The issue was whether KPRS exercised due diligence to correct a hazard that led to an injurious fall to a subcontractor employee. The …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited more than 20 employers following investigations into workplace fatalities in the latter half of 2025. Here’s a roundup of cases. Camino Real Foods and Elite Force Personnel Services, a staffing firm: Both employers face multiple serious violation charges, including willful-serious characterizations, and more than a quarter …
After a more-than six-year hiatus, Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is reassembling its Health Effects Advisory Committee (HEAC) to study possible revisions to permissible exposure limits (PELs) for airborne contaminants. The committee last met in December 2019 and was supposed to meet again in May 2020, but the meeting was canceled due to …
Another bill is before the California Senate with requirements for Cal/OSHA. This one would require it to consider a regulation to protect outdoor workers along the California border from what the bill calls “transboundary pollution.” SB 1046 would require Cal/OSHA to propose to the Standards Board by January 1st, 2030, a standard covering park rangers, …
Despite the demise of a prominent autonomous tractor company at the heart of experimental variances at two California wineries, Cal/OSHA says the variances remain in place – at least for the time being. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health is evaluating two separate variances involving other autonomous equipment companies. Autonomous agricultural equipment continues to …