SB 321, by Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D- Los Angeles), is her second attempt to make domestic household service subject to Cal/OSHA regulations. It has received major amendments that remove some of the controversial provisions. As amended, it stands approved by Assembly policy committees and now is before the Appropriations Committee. It is likely to …
Fed-OSHA is taking applications for more than $21 million in training grants, including the traditional Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, and a new program intended for infectious disease education. The Harwood grants will total almost $12 million and California organizations typically receive at least 10% of those grants. This year’s grants include targeted topics, training …
Three significant occupational safety and health bills are moving forward in the California legislature. The most significant of them – SB 606 – has been amended again. The bill by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) was previously approved by the state Senate and is in the Assembly, where it recently passed the Labor and Employment …
Four occupational safety and health bills have advanced from their houses of origin in the California Legislature, two in the Senate and two from the Assembly. The most prominent (or some would say ominous) is SB 606, by Senator Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach). Among its many provisions, the legislation would apply Fed-OSHA’s “egregious” employer provisions …
The California Office of Administrative Law has approved Title 8 revisions that officially recognize technical diving in California. It takes effect on October 1st. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board adopted the revisions at its April meeting. The revisions have been several years in the making. While the Board was in the process of adopting Fed-OSHA diving …
Cal/OSHA Chief Doug Parker faced persistent questioning from conservative U. S. senators at a recent hearing as his confirmation process to become Assistant Secretary of Labor for Fed-OSHA begins. Parker appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Retirement. The panel has not yet voted on his nomination. While the questioning was at …
What is seemingly a non-substantive consolidation of Cal/OSHA rules on cranes and derricks is attracting serious and substantial comment from various stakeholders. One commenter went as far as to suggest that the Standards Board scrap the current proposal and start all over again with “someone knowledgeable about crane operation safety.” Others praised the board’s efforts …
Governor Gavin Newsom’s May budget revise keeps the across-the-board increases he proposed for Cal/OSHA in January. They amount to 8% for enforcement and the Appeals Board and 10% for the Standards Board. In announcing his final budget proposal, Newsom touted a purported $75 billion state surplus. The state Legislative Analyst says the surplus is really …