Tagged in: Standards Board

Board Approves Limited Bird Flu Committee

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board declined a request from an advocacy organization for emergency protections for agricultural workers from avian influenza. However, the Board did approve an advisory committee to study possible reforms to its standard for zoonotic transmissible diseases, General Industry Safety Orders §5199.1. The emergency request came from Valley Voices, an activist organization involved … Read More »

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More Fall Protection Issues

California’s residential construction industry is not going to get the revisions it has long sought in the wake of the six-foot fall protection rule imposed upon California by Fed-OSHA. But it will have a chance, though limited, to argue for changes that could make compliance with the controversial regulation easier. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board officially … Read More »

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How Will Cal/OSHA Change Post-Audit?

At the close of last week’s marathon Joint Legislative Hearing in the wake of a critical State Auditor’s report on Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, chairman John Harabedian concluded, “Cal/OSHA not only has a staffing problem, it has a leadership problem.” It doesn’t appear that comment presages a change at the top of … Read More »

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Silica Standard is Not Working

The California Department of Public Health has confirmed 118 silicosis cases in 2025 from the engineered stone industry, just three fewer than the total for all of 2024. “We’re on track to significantly exceed the 2024 numbers,” says Michael Wilson, Ph.D, MPH, CIH, senior safety engineer for the Research and Standards-Health unit of Cal/OSHA’s Division … Read More »

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Autonomous Ag Tech in Action

A Cal/OSHA advisory committee met for two days recently to continue its deliberations about how or even whether to regulate the increasingly sophisticated autonomous technology used in agriculture. Proponents say the machines work better than a human mind in hazard recognition and eliminate many hazards created by having employees on tractors. Skeptics, mostly representing labor, … Read More »

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One More ‘Cleanup’ for Confined Spaces Reg

The Office of Administrative Law and the Cal/OSHA Standards Board withdrew from consideration the “Confined Space in Construction Clean-up” rulemaking, which the Board adopted in April. Board staff had to reword several sections. It issued a 15-Day Notice of Proposed Modifications. Stakeholder comments on the changes are due by August 25th. Pulling back a package … Read More »

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Final Cal/OSHA Budget

Cal/OSHA, including the Enforcement Branch, the Consultation Service, and the Appeals and Standards Boards, will receive slight increases in the approved 2025-26 budget from what the governor proposed in May. The budget was finalized and signed into law at the end of June. The state Department of Finance recently released the details. The Cal/OSHA program … Read More »

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