After hearing more than three hours of testimony, most of it sharply critical, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board yesterday wouldn't even entertain a motion to adopt emergency changes sought by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) to the state's heat illness standard.
Instead, the board invited the Division to submit a substitute proposal that addresses what DOSH Chief Len Welsh said was the true emergency -- employers' lack of understanding of the shade requirements of General Industry Safety Orders §3395. A new emergency proposal could be submitted to the board for its July 16 meeting in Los Angeles.
"I have great reservations about treating this as an emergency regulation," said board occupational health representative Dr. Jonathan Frisch about the proposal submitted to it for the June 18 meeting. It was a sentiment that was shared by his colleagues. The requirements for an emergency adoption "clearly haven't been met," according to management representative Bill Jackson.
Both labor and management speakers at a public meeting that stretched from 10 a.m. to well into the afternoon were equally critical. On the management side, speakers suggested that the current problems with the heat illnesses standard could be dealt with by better enforcement. "The board should not mandate more stringent requirements for employers who comply with existing requirements," said Elizabeth Treanor, director of the Phylmar Regulatory Roundtable.
Labor complained that the proposal actually would weaken protection for workers. Worksafe's Suzanne Murphy called it "an abuse of the emergency procedure," calling on Cal/OSH to issue a "clear and strong" standard instead of a "mishmash of 'give a little, take a little.'"
But Welsh said enforcement efforts are "maxed out" and predicted more heat illnesses and even deaths without clarifications to at least the shade provisions of the standard.
The other changes DOSH sought will have to be hashed out in the advisory committee process.
Look for complete coverage of this important issue in the next edition of Cal-OSHA Reporter.
