In an open letter to the Cal/OSH Appeals Board, 47 representatives of California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) -- including eight district managers -- have demanded that the board "cease and desist" from practices they say undermine their ability to protect workers.

The DOSH personnel decry the board's practice of scheduling several hearings per day involving a single judge, holding hearings in "distant locations where worker witnesses have great difficulty in appearing," and denying or ignoring legitimate continuance requests. 

In addition to the eight district managers, nine senior safety engineers/industrial hygienists, one Division attorney and 29 compliance officers signed the letter. 

They pointed out that this month, the board has scheduled 32 hearing days at six locations with three or more cases slated for the same judge, the same location and the same time. June has 14 days scheduled with four such cases and one day with five. "How can we, who handle the majority of appeals for the Division, prepare exhibits, witnesses and arguments for three separate cases all scheduled for the same time," the letter asks. "The simple answer is that we can't." 

The inspectors argue that the policy forces settlements, the net effect of which has been to "sabotage the Division's ability to defend citations and penalties on appeal," the letter states. "The people who pay the cost for these policies are California workers whose employers look at Cal/OSHA as an agency that is forced to fight with one hand tied behind its back." 

The letter acknowledges that not all citations are "open and shut" and all parties deserve a speedy appeal and impartial review of the facts. "All we want is a level playing field," the inspectors state. 

More on this development in this week's Cal-OSHA Reporter.