The week of April 15th-19th is being commemorated as National Work Zone Awareness Week, and employers are encouraged to take a break and talk to their employees about struck-by hazards. In California, contact with objects and equipment, synonymous with struck-bys, killed 55 workers in 2022, the latest year of available data. Such incidents include flying …
Homeless people living outdoors in unsanitary conditions could contract and spread contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, typhus, and hepatitis A, but whether sidewalk encampments pose a significant health threat to the public or not is unclear. Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not appear to have ever discussed regulations to protect the …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited about a dozen employers in fatality cases from the late spring and summer of 2023. Here’s what happened in these cases, DOSH’s subsequent action, and the lessons that can be drawn from these incidents. Northern California Fire Protection Services: A May 16th incident involving a fall …
The November 2023 fire at Martinez’s Marathon Renewables facility that severely burned an employee was the result of excessive temperatures in furnace tubes surfaces, a rupture in one of the tubes, a misaligned bypass valve, and instrumentation and interlocks that appear to have not been functioning correctly. That, according to the U.S. Chemical Safety and …
The latest Star site in Cal/OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) is part of an international company that “walks the walk” on safety and practices what it calls the Golden Rule when it comes to addressing hazards. Derrick O’Keefe, safety manager for Ontario’s Wieland Metal Services, says VPP certification is “the pinnacle of my safety career.” …
Authorities and employers advised people throughout California to work from home and stay off roads during this week’s storms; first responders throughout the state were on duty and responding to a wide range of emergency calls. Cal Fire Deputy Chief Lucas Spelman said some firefighters might have prepared for the weather by reviewing notes from …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board staff and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health agree that a petition by a crane certification organization should be denied. While the Board was set to vote against the petition to revise rules about how operators recertify at its December 14th meeting, events have changed the plan. It was an …
Two California employers are facing potential five-figure Cal/OSHA penalties in the wake of two fatal incidents earlier this year involving heavy machinery. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited Botanas Mexico, a distributor based in South El Monte, for three serious violations and one regulatory and $35,820 in proposed penalties in the May 25th …