The Cal/OSHA Standards Board will hold its first in-person meeting since early 2020 on April 21st in Oakland, Cal-OSHA Reporter has confirmed. The meeting will be significant, as the board is expected to vote on the final extension of the COVID emergency temporary standard. Governor Gavin Newsom has not renewed an executive order mandating that …
Almost half of the most-cited Title 8 violations in 2021 involved the Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) standards, and specific regulations related to airborne infectious diseases due to the COVID pandemic. And it was those safety orders which were among the most appealed violations of the year. Traditionally, the IIPP standards, General Industry Safety …
Against the backdrop of the pandemic becoming endemic, mask requirements terminated in most states and businesses, and a public who has had just about enough, Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is finalizing language for the final version of its COVID emergency temporary standard. The Standards Board is expected to pass on it on …
Unvaccinated employees in California are no longer are required to wear masks in indoor work settings. Governor Gavin Newsom, in advance of this year’s midterms, has joined his fellow blue state governors and suspended the requirement. Most red states dropped the mask requirements long ago. The executive order, issued on February 28th, is effective immediately, …
February 15th marked the end of California’s Covid indoor masking requirement. But employers are not relieved of the Cal/OSHA emergency temporary standards requirements about masking. Until further notice, unvaccinated individuals in the workplace still need to mask up. Governor Gavin Newsom followed the end of the general mask mandate by announcing that the state was …
Many critical regulatory projects have languished for years, and Cal/OSHA’s single-minded focus on regulating COVID has pushed them further onto the back burner. Now that covid is becoming endemic, stakeholders tell the agency that it should put real issues back on the front burner and heat them up. “We understand the importance of addressing protections …
California’s Public Health Institute will receive almost $160,000 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to promote COVID prevention, safe return-to-work policies, and vaccine confidence in employees. The “extramural” award was part of a $5 million program funding 38 projects around the country addressing challenges related to the pandemic. NIOSH Director Dr. …
Thanks to a new executive order by the California governor, Cal/OSHA’s COVID Emergency Temporary Standard will get one more readoption, good until the end of the year. Other states are moving away from COVID restrictions, while some are trying to reinstate them. Standards Board Executive Officer Christina Shupe says the ETS, which went into effect …