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 …
Cal/OSHA’s “SOAR” report for fiscal 2024, the State OSHA Annual Report, measures how the program did against its strategic plan. That plan, which was supposed to run until 2023, was extended through 2025, and the agency reports that it met some of its objectives, particularly outreach and education, and came close on others. SOAR is …
It’s been eight years since a nurses’ association petitioned the Cal/OSHA Standards Board for protection from “plume” from surgical procedures. Now, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health is edging closer to recommending language to the Board for official action. As with other rulemaking projects, this one was delayed by the pandemic and critical Cal/OSHA …
At the close of last week’s marathon Joint Legislative Hearing in the wake of a critical State Auditor’s report on Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, chairman John Harabedian concluded, “Cal/OSHA not only has a staffing problem, it has a leadership problem.” It doesn’t appear that comment presages a change at the top of …
The California Department of Public Health has confirmed 118 silicosis cases in 2025 from the engineered stone industry, just three fewer than the total for all of 2024. “We’re on track to significantly exceed the 2024 numbers,” says Michael Wilson, Ph.D, MPH, CIH, senior safety engineer for the Research and Standards-Health unit of Cal/OSHA’s Division …
The Cal/OSHA Appeals Board recently approved settlements in several significant injury cases, including two cases with repeat violations. Here is how those cases were settled after the employers and Cal/OSHA negotiated. Allied West Paper Corp., Fontana: This manufacturer will pay $59,925 (85%) of a proposed $70,750 resulting from a June 2024, lockout/tagout incident. An employee …
Two things became clear during yesterday’s joint legislative hearing in the wake of a state audit questioning Cal/OSHA’s performance: Lawmakers don’t see the agency’s problems as purely a function of …
Fed-OSHA monitors Cal/OSHA (and all state plans) on how well their program is adhering to and meeting federal metrics on a two-year, biennial evaluation cycle. Since 2023, the Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation (FAME) report shows Cal/OSHA is improving. Among other things, the agency has improved its vacancy rate since the 2023 evaluation. And while …