The Cal/OSHA Standards Board received no comments, yea or nea, on its proposal to adopt updated Fed-OSHA standards on quantitative fit testing. The quiet public hearing on March 21st means that the proposal is on track for adoption. The Board has scheduled a vote for July 18th. Fed-OSHA adopted the revisions in 2019 and Cal/OSHA …
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 …
Although Interline Brands’ San Bernardino facility (now known as Home Depot USA) has provided substantial foot protection for its warehouse workers, it didn’t provide it for all employees. Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, according to an unpublished decision issued by the California Court of Appeal, correctly cited the warehouse for a violation of …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board will convene two days of advisory committee meetings in mid-November with the wildland firefighting community to discuss updates to Cal/OSHA regulations based on National Fire Protection Association standards. This will be the fourth meeting of the committee since June 2022. It originally convened in 2015. These meetings are necessitated by legislation …
Eight years after being mandated by the California Legislature, Title 8 regulations on personal protective equipment for firefighters – both structural and wildland – are now part of the California Code of Regulations, after the Office of Administrative Law signed off. But executing on the new rules is another story. The provisions are aimed at …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board will reconvene an advisory committee on November 15th to consider remaining issues from adopting personal protective equipment requirements for firefighters. The committee will discuss in-service PPE for fighting structural and proximity fires, including draft language. It would require in General Industry Safety Orders §3401 that agencies develop and require the use …
Amy’s Kitchen, a Petaluma organic foods manufacturer and retailer that has been the subject of safety controversy amid a unionization effort, has settled three Cal/OSHA citation cases involving serious injuries. Another sizable case based on complaints is still pending. Complaints to Cal/OSHA are not an uncommon organizing tactic. The citations have settled for fractions of …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health is moving quickly to address issues remaining from the recent adoption of personal protective equipment requirements for firemen. DOSH will convene a technical advisory committee May 25th on respiratory protection for wildland firemen, and three Standards Board follow up with a full advisory committee on June 9th addressing …