Dave Thomas, who chaired the Cal/OSHA Standards Board from 2013 until 2024, when he was abruptly removed as Chair by the governor, has retired from the Board. His term was set to expire in June. “Dave has dedicated his life to fighting for workers, for employees, for folks that toil every day here in California,” …
After many years and a false start in 2022, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board has reintroduced an update to its requirements for employers’ first-aid kits. But, as has been pointed out before, something seemingly simple often can be anything but. That fact was underscored by many at the Board’s January public hearing on the proposal. “We …
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board’s just-proposed revisions to the Process Safety Management standard for refineries solve a “clarity problem, an ambiguity problem, and a potential preemption problem,” according to Division of Occupational Safety and Health deputy chief Carl Paganelli. And most importantly, he says, it solves a legal problem. The revisions were up at a public …
Governor Gavin Newsom proposes a 14% decrease for Cal/OSHA’s budget in 2026-27 over the final budget for the current fiscal year. The governor’s budget proposal will be revised in May and renegotiated with the California Legislature. The budget proposal pegs 2025-26 expenditures at $285,210,000 and proposes $244,679,000 for the coming FY. There is a budget …
A proposed ban on the fabrication and installation of engineered stone in California would “punish” compliant employers and push businesses out of California, employer groups and labor representatives tell the Cal/OSHA Standards Board. The silica ban was proposed by the Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association (WOEMA) in early December, amid increasing cases of silicosis …
More than eight years after a nurses’ association petitioned the Cal/OSHA Standards Board for protection from the surgical plume, work is beginning to progress. A Division of Occupational Safety and Health-led committee will meet on January 20th via Zoom to discuss a draft proposal. The 2017 petition by the California Nurses Association followed closely the …
The Western Occupational and Environmental Medical Association (WOEMA), which in 2023 petitioned the Cal/OSHA Standards Board for an emergency standard to better protect workers in California’s countertop fabrication industry, now says it is time to ban fabricating engineered stone altogether WOEMA has requested “expedited” rulemaking to prohibit “all fabrication and installation tasks,” including cutting, grinding, …