. Victor Muniz, the former Cal/OSHA deputy chief for enforcement who explained to Cal-OSHA Reporter earlier this year that crews cleaning up fire sites in the Los Angeles area were ignoring safety, is still concerned. He says harmful exposures are still taking place. Muniz was deputy chief in the late 1980s and spent the rest …
Under draft language released by Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health to implement recent legislation, employers would have to take extra heat illness prevention steps for some employees when temperatures reach 80ºF, indoors or outdoors. The draft revisions to the heat illness prevention standards, General Industry Safety Orders §§ 3395 and 3396, are intended …
Among the damage from cuts to, and reorganization of, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) isan issue near and dear to some of California’s wildland firefighters: A respirator for use in fighting the blazes. As Cal-OSHA Reporter reported in January, one of the prototype respirators field-tested in the summer of 2023 is …
A former Cal/OSHA enforcement deputy chief says the emergency cleanup of fire-stricken Los Angeles-area neighborhoods has ignored safety protocols and exposed crews to potentially contaminated debris, including asbestos. State officials, meanwhile, provide a different story. They say strict protocols are in place, and Cal/OSHA has made concerted efforts to raise awareness of the hazards inherent …
The Department of Industrial Relations says it is giving $6 million to nonprofit community-based organizations in the Los Angeles area, to “educate and assist” workers on health and safety issues during the recovery and rebuilding from the recent devastating wildfires. The grants to 21 community-based organizations (CBOs) in the region are part of the California …
As the first week of 2025 comes to a close, Cal-OSHA Reporter’s thoughts are with the employers, employees, and people of the Los Angeles metropolis, which is experiencing a waking nightmare. As Cal-OSHA Reporter goes to press, more than 1,000 structures have been destroyed by three major fires ignited by hellish winds – some have …