Among the many hazards residents, responders and recovery workers face during California’s destructive wildfires is the potential exposure to Valley Fever. Recently a Ventura County woman related the experience of her son, who contracted Valley Fever while helping protect the family property during the Thomas Fire in 2017. He almost died from the disease, she …
The Cal/OSH Standards Board will make good on its promise to address the construction industry’s concerns about the new Fed-OSHA-mandated silica standard with a mid-December advisory committee. In fact, the committee already has draft language that would address those concerns. Potential changes would affect only the new requirements in the Construction Safety Orders. The Standards …
SACRAMENTO – Against the backdrop of California’s fire season roaring to life, the Cal/OSH Standards Board has given its staff the green light to proceed with rulemaking on a long-smoldering issue – better protecting the men and women who fight those fires. The board is acting at the direction of the state Legislature.  A 2014 bill …
The top 10 Fed-OSHA violations for the fiscal year 2015 are listed below. Many of them are found in Cal/OSHA’s top 25 list. One prominent exception is the top most-cited Cal/OSHA regulation, the Injury and Illness Prevention Program requirement (GISO §3203). Fed-OSHA does not have a counterpart. Here are the top federal violations: 1. Fall …
42 COR 40-7290 [¶22,507] HEAT ILLNESS PREVENTION – HIGH-HEAT PROCEDURES Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 3395(f)(3) (2015) – Employer was not required to have high-heat provisions in its heat illness prevention plan because it was not in the construction industry. USE, CARE AND PROTECTION OF ABRASIVE WHEELS – PROTECTION DEVICES, PROTECTION HOODS OR SAFETY …
The fall protection standard was the most cited Fed-OSHA violation for fiscal year 2014, the agency announces. The regulation, 29 CFR 1926.501, was cited 6,143 times during the period. It was followed by: hazard communication (1910.1200), at 5,161; scaffolding (1926.451), 4,029; respiratory protection (1910.134), 3,223; lockout/tagout (1910.147), 2,704; powered industrial trucks (1910.178), 2,662; electrical-wiring methods …
In our Oct. 11 story, “Six Employers Cited in 2012 Central Coast Valley Fever Outbreak” (p. 10702), we listed Hot Line Construction as being cited for an alleged violation of Construction Safety Orders §1509, the construction Injury and Illness Prevention Program standard. In fact, Hot Line was cited under General Industry Safety Orders §5144, the …
On the heels of a Sept. 11 incident that took the life of a temporary worker at a Southern California winery, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has issued a hazard alert to warn employers about the dangers of using ammonia at such workplaces. The worker was employed by Placement Pro and working …