The Cal/OSHA Standards Board is adopting a Fed-OSHA update to respirator fit-testing protocols to ensure the Title 8 standard is at least as effective as its federal counterpart. The Board is holding a public hearing on the proposal in March, even though it is not required under the “Horcher” process for adopting federal language verbatim. …
As August ended, 20 wildland firefighters from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Cal Fire, and the U.S. Forest Service donned their gear at the Del Valle Training Center in Castaic. They spent a hot day simulating “cutting lines” up and down a slope. Cal-OSHA Reporter was there to cover the training. In addition to …
Cal/OSHA says its proposal to revise the general industry and construction lead standards is a compromise: The California Department of Public Health recommended even more stringent requirements, which the Division of Occupational Safety and Health found infeasible. DOSH says a combination of decreased exposure and accompanying protections will accomplish the same thing. The Standards Board …
Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has cited Los Angeles Apparel for six serious violations – and a rare willful violation of its fatality and serious injury reporting standard. Cal/OSHA says six employees died from COVID during an outbreak at the facility. The agency says it inspected the firm after receiving reports of a …
California’s Office of Administrative Law has given final approval to a “placeholder” permanent version of Cal/OSHA’s standard for protection from wildfire smoke. The rules were effective February 1st. The Standards Board adopted them December 17th, 2020. The standard will be in place until Cal/OSHA and stakeholders work out the ultimate version of the standard, which …
47 COR 40-8287 [¶23,040] REPORTING WORK-CONNECTED INJURIES – REPORTING WORK-CONNECTED FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURIES, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 342(a); Labor Code § 6317 (2020) – Although Employer failed to report an employee’s serious illness, the Division did not issue a citation for the violation within the six-month statute of limitations. …
In November 2018 the Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited Horizon Nut Co. of Tulare for three serious violations and $36,000 in penalties in a case of pesticide exposure involving one of its employees. The employer appealed the violations, as is routine, especially in serious cases. On May 8, 2018, an employee was removing …
46 COR 40-8202 [¶22,978] CONTROL OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES – DUSTS, FUMES, MISTS, VAPORS AND GASES, RESPIRATORY PROTECTION, MEDICAL EVALUATION Cal. Code Regs, tit. 8, § 5144(e)(1) (2019) – The Division failed to establish that Employer did not medically clear use of respirators for employees prior to requiring their use to protect against cocci spores. Employer …