The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has unanimously rejected proposed regulatory revisions to the Process Safety Management standard for refineries, General Industry Safety Orders §5189.1. The proposal would have revised the standard’s …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health will discuss proposed revisions to its wildfire smoke requirements at a Zoom-only meeting on September 22nd. The revisions are mandated by 2022’s AB 2243. The main change would reduce the air-quality index threshold for mandatory use of respirators. But the change would not require a written respiratory protection …
The more than 20-year quest to update Cal/OSHA’s requirements for employers’ first-aid kits raised more than the question of how long it took to modify, figure out, and adopt what should have been a relatively simple set of requirements. It also spotlights the issue of keeping Cal/OSHA up to date on consensus standards. Helen Cleary, …
Cal/OSHA is moving toward including renewable fuels facilities in its Process Safety Management regulation for refineries. It has scheduled a video conference on September 23rd to discuss its latest draft revisions. The revisions are at the request of the United Steel Workers union following a horrific 2023 incident at a Contra Costa County renewable fuels …
The Cal/OSHA Appeals Board is proposing revisions to its rules on various stages of the appeal process to make them “more transparent and understandable and increase the efficiency of its proceedings,” it says. The Board will hold a public hearing on the proposal on October 7th in person at its Sacramento headquarters and by videoconference. …
Longtime construction safety professional and former Cal/OSHA Standards Board member Kathleen “Kate” Crawford has passed away following an illness. She announced her retirement from the Board earlier this year, having spent about five years on the rulemaking body as a management member. “Kate exemplified the best in policy discourse,” says Board chair Joseph Alioto, Jr., …
Biochemistry student Shourish Mukherjee is making another run at a standard. In his reshaped petition,, he is seeking signage and infographics at residential construction sites to warn employees of respiratory hazards he believes current standards don’t adequately cover. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board denied an earlier petition from the University of California, Riverside student, because staff …