cal osha visit

What to Expect When You are Inspected by Cal/OSHA

• May 21, 2013

OSHA Review

• California Dental Regulation , Dental Board of California , Dental Bytes , Dental Infection Control , OSHA Dental Regulations , OSHA Review

Cal/OSHA is California’s occupational safety and health enforcement agency, covering nearly all employees in the state, except federal employees who fall under the jurisdiction of Federal OSHA . Cal/OSHA conducts workplace inspections to determine whether employers are complying with Cal/OSHA requirements. In the dental industry, most Cal/OSHA inspections are triggered by complaints, most often made by disgruntled employees who feel that their overall concerns at work have not been adequately addressed.

The best way to prepare for a Cal/OSHA visit is to have a strong, sound safety program in place that includes safety orientation training for all new employees, ongoing safety training, internal inspections of office areas and processes, effective recordkeeping, and the active involvement of employees.

Initial Contact

When a Cal/OSHA inspector makes initial contact at a dental office, he/she will request permission from the employer to conduct an inspection. You will not receive advance notice of the inspection. If you are busy with a patient when the inspector arrives, you can request that the inspector wait or return at a more convenient time. However, an inspector can refuse this request and demand to see the office immediately.

Important: Be sure to check the inspector’s credentials and request a Cal/OSHA business card from the inspector. Prior to the inspection, the inspector should immediately identify himself by showing the State of California photo identification card.

Opening Conference

The inspector will begin by explaining the reason for and scope of the inspection to the employer, and will then request required documentation and records– permits, registrations, proof of workers’ compensation coverage, required posters, training records, employee exposure records, required plans – Injury and Illness Prevention, Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Control, Hazard Communication, SDS binder, hazardous chemical inventory list, hepatitis B vaccination records, exposure incident documentation (if applicable), sharps injury log, etc. If the inspection is the result of an imminent hazard, the inspector will immediately ask to be taken to the imminent hazard.

The scope of the inspection can range from a partial inspection, which is limited in scope, to a comprehensive one, which encompasses the entire worksite. In dentistry, partial inspections are most often conducted based on compliance with the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard – Title 8 CCR Section 5193 .

The Walkaround

The inspector will conduct a walkaround to check work areas for safety and health violations, gathering physical evidence and examining required records. Such activities include observing safety and health practices, talking with employees or conducting formal interviews, taking photographs, and testing air and noise levels. Make sure an office representative accompanies the inspector at all times during the inspection.

During the walkaround, each complaint item will be evaluated to determine if the alleged hazard exists. Make sure safety policies and procedures are well documented, as Cal/OSHA personnel keep track of an employer’s good faith effort to comply with Cal/OSHA regulations. Additionally, it is to the employer’s benefit to be helpful, courteous, and responsive throughout the walkaround. However, when answering direct questions, take care not to volunteer too much information, as “anything you say can be used against you”.

Closing Conference

A closing conference is held to discuss any alleged violations observed and requirements for abatement, the proposed penalties for each citation, the possibility of a follow-up inspection, the employer’s rights to appeal, and the employer’s responsibility to post citations in the workplace.

Proof of violations abatement must be submitted to Cal/OSHA within 30 days for general violations and seven days for serious violations.

After the Inspection

Following the inspection, employers have ten days to request an informal conference with Cal/OSHA, during which employers can request extensions on abatement dates, present evidence contesting a citation, or express concerns that the proposed penalties are inappropriate.

Penalties can range up to $70,000 per violation. A willful violation that causes death or permanent damage or prolonged impairment of an employee can result in, upon conviction, a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment up to three years, or both.

Upon receipt of the citation(s), an employer has only 15 working days to file a written appeal with the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board.

OSHA Review, Inc. a registered continuing education provider in the State of California, specializing in Dental Practice Act, infection control, and Cal/OSHA training . OSHA Review subscribers in California receive updated regulatory compliance and infection control training thorough our bi-monthly newsletter.

Related Posts

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with the media, has reported…

The Dental Board of California (DBC) recently announced that beginning August 1, 2024, all California…

On March 14, 2024, the Dental Board of California (DBC) issued a fraud alert regarding…

• previous post: Proposal to Add BPA to CA Prop 65 List – What it Means to Dentist UPDATE
• next post: Dental Offices and Form 300 Log: To Post or Not to Post

• Live Seminars
• In-Person Events
• 60-minute Webinars
• Other Learning Products
• On-demand Course Listing
• Administrative Assistant, Front Desk & Reception
• Communication Training
• Computer Software
• Customer Service
• Evelyn Wood Speed Reading
• Finance & Accounting
• Grammar & Business Writing
• Human Resources
• Management & Leadership
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office
• OSHA & Workplace Safety
• Personal Development
• Project Management
• Sales Training
• Time Management
• All Categories

Microsoft® Excel® Basics

Virtual Seminars:

+ 44 more dates

In-Person Events:

• May 8, Houston, TX
• May 13, Oakbrook Terrace, IL

From /person

Leadership, Team-Building and Coaching Skills for Managers and Supervisors

+ 45 more dates

• Apr 17, Louisville, KY
• Apr 23, Austin, TX

+ 11 more dates

Learn All Year Long

PryorPlus for you or your team

• Free attendance to all in-person events and live virtual seminars priced $299 and below
• 24/7 access to all ondemand courses
• Access to microlearning, quizzes, videos, eBooks, webinars and more
• Unlimited learning in 15+ categories including Excel, HR, Leadership and more
• Corporate Training
• Government Training
• Onsite Training
• PryorPlus Annual Pass
• Content for Your LMS

We bring onsite training to you – in-person or online

Schedule the perfect training for your team at a time convenient for you.

• Choose from 200+ topics
• In-person at your location or online
• For groups of any size
• Interactive with a live instructor

• PryorPlus Login

Cal/OSHA Training

Understanding, interpreting and complying with the california standards.

1-Day Seminar

Credits – 

CEU: 0.6 |  

CPE: 6  

• What You Will Learn

Maintaining a safe workplace environment is more than just good business practice — it's the law. Attend this powerful one-day seminar and discover how to make sure your workplace is safe, secure and Cal/OSHA-compliant.

Already attended this seminar?

We value your privacy, privacy overview.

Cal/OSHA FAQs

Find answers to frequently asked questions about our Cal/OSHA courses and training requirements for California workers. If you can't find the answer you're looking for, please contact our support team for assistance.

Cal/OSHA General Information

What is cal/osha.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), also known as Cal/OSHA, enforces California's state OSHA plan. It sets and enforces standards designed to improve the health and safety of California workers. Cal/OSHA also issues permits, licenses, certifications, registrations and approvals to California workplaces.

What does Cal/OSHA stand for?

Cal/OSHA is commonly used to describe the California Occupational Safety and Health Program and the agency that enforces it. The official name of the agency is the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as DOSH.

How do I file a complaint with Cal/OSHA?

To file a complaint about a hazard in your workplace, you can call or email the Cal/OSHA district office that serves the location of your jobsite. The California Department of Industrial Relations asks that you gather as much information as possible before you submit your complaint . If you do submit a complaint, your name must be kept confidential unless you request otherwise.

Who does Cal/OSHA apply to?

Almost every workplace in California falls under Cal/OSHA jurisdiction. Cal/OSHA is authorized to inspect nearly all workplaces for occupational safety and health violations.

Some exclusions include U.S. government employees, Postal Service employees and private sector employees within the borders of U.S. military installations and national parks. Visit the California Department of Industrial Relations website or call (510) 286-7348 for more information regarding Cal/OSHA jurisdiction.

Can Cal/OSHA fine employees?

According to the California Department of Industrial Relations , Cal/OSHA does not cite or fine workers for violations.

What is Cal/OSHA Title 8?

Cal/OSHA standards are found in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, which is enforced by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. You can browse or search Cal/OSHA regulations online .

What is an IIPP?

Cal/OSHA requires every California employer to have an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP).

IIPPs should include plans for accident and illness prevention, means for encouraging employees to report unsafe working conditions and plans to allocate company resources toward controlling hazards and purchasing personal protective equipment.

An effective IIPP ensures that employees are provided a safe and healthful workplace. For more information on developing your workplace's IIPP, consult the Cal/OSHA IIPP guide .

Where can I find Cal/OSHA COVID-19 guidelines?

Cal/OSHA has implemented COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) to protect workers from the infectious disease.

For the most up-to-date information on Cal/OSHA's COVID-19 standards, consult the Cal/OSHA website .

Cal/OSHA Training

Who needs cal/osha training.

According to the California Department of Industrial Relations , almost every workplace in California falls under Cal/OSHA's jurisdiction, including state and local government. Cal/OSHA requires all employees to complete job-specific training to prevent workplace accidents and injuries.

» Learn more about Cal/OSHA training requirements

What are the testing requirements for Cal/OSHA training?

Each module in the Cal/OSHA course ends with a five-question quiz. You must score at least 80% to pass each quiz and advance to the next section. You can continue to take each quiz until you pass.

Once you have completed all course modules, you will be prompted to take a 20-question final exam. You will need to earn a 70% or higher to pass the final exam. You must finish the exam within 180 minutes, and you have an unlimited number of attempts to pass.

When will I receive my Cal/OSHA certification?

Immediately after you pass the final exam, you can download your Cal/OSHA certificate. You can print the certificate and provide it to your employer to prove you completed your training.

How long does it take to complete the course?

The Cal/OSHA online training course takes three hours to complete. OSHA Outreach training will take an additional 10 or 30 hours to complete, depending on which course you choose.

According to federal OSHA guidelines, students can spend no more than 7.5 hours per day in OSHA Outreach training. Therefore, it will take at least two days to complete 10-hour OSHA training and at least four days to complete 30-hour OSHA training.

Does the Cal/OSHA online training course expire?

The Cal/OSHA training course expires 180 days from registration. If you need to know how many days you have left to complete your training, you can log into the course and find this information on the My Account page.

OSHA Outreach Training

What is osha outreach training.

The OSHA Outreach Training Program teaches workers how to identify and avoid common safety and health risks in the workplace. It also explains employer responsibilities and workers' rights under OSHA. This training is available in industry-specific versions for construction and general industry.

The 10-hour courses are designed for entry-level workers, and 30-hour courses are designed for supervisors and workers with safety roles or responsibilities.

What are the testing requirements for OSHA Outreach training?

Each course module ends with a brief quiz. To continue to the next section, you need to score at least 70% on the quiz. You have up to three attempts to pass each quiz.

After you complete all course modules, you're required to take a 20-question final exam. You have 180 minutes to earn a passing score of 70% or higher.

If you do not pass any given quiz in three tries, you will be locked out of the course and will need to contact our support team to resume your training. Three unlocks are permitted throughout the duration of the course. If you are locked out of the course four times, you will be required to reregister for the course and restart your training.

You have up to three tries to pass the final exam. If you don't pass the exam on your third attempt, you will need to reregister for the course and start from the beginning.

How long will it take to complete OSHA Outreach training?

Federal OSHA regulations state that students can spend no more than 7.5 hours per day in OSHA Outreach training. This means it will take you at least two days to complete 10-hour OSHA training and at least four days to complete 30-hour OSHA training.

When will I receive my OSHA DOL card?

Once you have successfully completed OSHA-authorized Outreach training, you can instantly download and print your certificate of completion. You can provide it to your employer as proof of training completion while you wait for your OSHA card to be delivered.

Your official OSHA card from the U.S. Department of Labor will arrive in the mail, typically six to eight weeks after course completion.

Will my OSHA card expire?

No. OSHA cards issued upon completion of our construction and general industry OSHA Outreach courses never expire. However, your employer may require you to retake the course periodically, such as every three to five years. Your course graduation date will be printed on your OSHA card.

Do I need to confirm my identity to take the course?

Yes, this course uses security questions to validate your identity throughout your training. Prior to starting the course, you will need to answer a series of questions about yourself.

At the beginning of each course module, one of the questions you previously answered will appear on your screen. You will have 90 seconds to answer the question correctly.

If you answer more than four security questions incorrectly, you will be locked out of the course. To resume your training, you will need to contact our support team .

For more information on OSHA Outreach training, visit our OSHA training FAQ page .

• No menu assigned!

• How To Easily Prepare For A Surprise OSHA Inspection Now

Don’t be caught off guard with a surprise OSHA Inspection. In 2019, Cal/OSHA conducted the most inspections in the nation – exceeding the goal of 7,540. Being prepared and knowing what to expect beforehand helps to prevent stress, and possibly citations. In this blog post, we will discuss the how to prepare for an inspection, what to do during an OSHA inspection, and what to do if you receive a citation.

What Does Cal OSHA Do?

Cal/OSHA (a division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration ) makes sure businesses are following workplace health and safety standards in California. Theses standards help protect employees from work-related hazards.

What to Do Before Cal OSHA Visits

You should always assume they could show up any day – even during an extreme heatwave.  Therefore being prepared is imperative. Ensure that you have an effective safety program in place, known as an Injury and Illness Prevention Program  (IIPP).  Most California employers are required by Cal OSHA to have one, as it is the foundation for workplace safety. It is also one of the first documents they will typically ask for during an inspection. Failure to have an effective IIPP will result in higher citation penalties amounts.

Why Would Cal OSHA Show Up?

An OSHA inspection can occur without the prior knowledge of the employer. Instances where a site has had a fatality, accident or receives a complaint from an employee will warrant a visit. A sure-fire way to help prevent an injury or fatality is by investing in safety training for employees. Learn more about  how workplace safety training can benefit your business.   There are also inspections that are conducted by Cal OSHA on Employers having high Workers’ Compensation ratings (EMRs) to “help” the employer reduce incidents.

Tips For When They’re at Your Door

5 tips how to deal with Cal OSHA when you receive a surprise visit.

Opening Conference

During this time the inspector will explain the inspection procedure and provide information on rights and responsibilities. It’s vital that you listen to them carefully.

You will also want to consider the following during the inspection:

• Walk with the inspector at all times within facility
• Take notes of the inspection
• Take photos of everything the inspector photographs
• Do not accept guilt for anything

Have You Received a Cal OSHA Citation?

Before you do anything contact OSTS ! We will evaluate your case, prepare arguments, defenses and handle all negotiations with OSHA & Appeals Board.  

OSTS will strive to settle your case as efficiently as possible. For nearly 30 years, we have had tremendous success in helping clients achieve significant reductions in citation classification, withdraw of citations, and reduction in total penalty amount owed. The average penalty reduction is above 70 percent.  

Since each client case varies, OSTS cannot guarantee that OSHA will make a settlement offer, nor can we guarantee that your case can be significantly adjusted or reduced.

Recent Posts

• Importance of Temporary Traffic Control Training
• Workplace Accidents – 7 Ways To Help Employers Avoid Them
• How Workplace Safety Training Benefits Your Business
• Why You Need To Beware Of Heat Illness in the Workplace

OSTS, Inc Services

• Crane Operator Certification
• Management Services
• Programs and Training
• Technical Training/Services

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

O.S.T.S., Inc Occupational Safety Training Systems P: 877-404-OSTS (6787) FAX: 909-393-9713 E: [email protected]

Training Facility

14650 Central Ave Chino, CA 91710

© 2024 OSTS, Inc.. | Website by Taylor Digital

• Safety Articles
• Construction Industry Services and Training
• General Industry Services and Training
• Meet the Team
• Webinar & Events
• How to Take The Test/View Results
• Fall Protection – Competent Person Test
• • FRO 03 B – Final Exam
• Examen 1-A (Español) – Prueba Escrita Del Operador Para Montacargas Industriales
• • Excavation Comprehensive Exam (English)
• • 10-hour General Industry Outreach
• • Intro to OSHA
• • Hazmat DOT Test
• • Confined Space User
• • Test 1-A (English) – Operator Written Test for Industrial Lift Trucks

Accessibility Toolbar

• Powered with favorite Love by Codenroll

An official website of the United States government.

Here’s how you know

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

• 中文（简体） (Chinese-Simplified)
• 繁體中文 (Chinese-Traditional)
• Kreyòl ayisyen (Haitian Creole)
• 한국어 (Korean)
• Español (Spanish)
• Filipino/Tagalog
• Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
• OSHA Offices by State
• State Plan and OSHA Area Offices
• Field Federal Safety and Health Councils

Contact the office nearest you.

California state plan office.

The California State Plan applies to all public and private sector places of employment in the state with the exception of federal government employees. Federal government employees, including those employed by the United States Postal Service, private sector employers on Native American lands, maritime activities on the navigable waterways of the United States, private contractors working on land designated as exclusive federal jurisdiction, and employers that require federal security clearances, are covered under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

Oakland District Office (Headquarters)

(510) 286-7000 (510) 286-7037

Business Hrs: 8:00a-5:00p PT

American Canyon State Plan Office

(707) 649-3700 (707) 649-3712

Bakersfield State Plan Office

(661) 588-6400 (661) 588-6428

Foster City State Plan Office

(650) 573-3812 (650) 573-3817

Fremont/San Jose State Plan Office

(510) 794-2521 (510) 794-3889

Fresno State Plan Office

(559) 445-5302 (559) 445-5786

Long Beach State Plan Office

(562) 506-0810 (562) 426-8340

Los Angeles State Plan Office

(213) 576-7451 (213) 576-7461

Modesto State Plan Office

(209) 545-7310 (209) 545-7313

Monrovia District Office

(626) 239-0369 (626) 239-0387

Oakland State Plan Office

(510) 622-2916 (510) 622-2908

Redding State Plan Office

(530) 224-4743 (530) 224-4747

Sacramento State Plan Office

(916) 263-2800 (916) 263-2798

San Bernardino State Plan Office

(909) 383-4321 (909) 383-6789

San Diego State Plan Office

(619) 767-2280 (619) 767-2299

Santa Ana District Office

(714) 558-4451 (714) 558-2035

San Francisco State Plan Office

(415) 557-0100 (415) 557-0123

Van Nuys State Plan Office

(818) 901-5403 (818) 901-5578

What is a State Plan?

A State Plan is an OSHA-approved safety and health program that enforces its own occupational safety and health standards which are required to be at least as effective as federal OSHA's but may have different or additional requirements. There are 27 states and two U.S. territories that are State Plans. Twenty-two State Plans (21 states and one U.S. territory) cover both private and state and local government workplaces. The remaining seven State Plans (six states and one U.S. territory) cover state and local government workers only.

OSHA Area Office

The federal OSHA offices cover only federal agencies; the United States Postal Service; private sector employers on Native American lands; maritime activities on the navigable waterways of the United States; private contractors working on land designated as exclusive federal jurisdiction; and employers that require federal security clearances.

Oakland Area Office

(510) 637-3800 (510) 637-3846

San Diego Area Office

(619) 557-5030 (619) 557-6001

On-Site Consultation Program

California On-Site Consultation Program

What is an On-Site Consultation Program?

An On-Site Consultation Program offers free and confidential advice to small and medium-sized businesses in all states across the country, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. On-site consultation services are separate from enforcement and do not result in penalties or citations. At an employer's request, a consultant from a state agency or university will visit a workplace to help identify hazards and make recommendations on possible solutions, provide advice on compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing injury and illness prevention programs.

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Credit card rates
• Balance transfer credit cards
• Business credit cards
• Cash back credit cards
• Rewards credit cards
• Travel credit cards
• Checking accounts
• Online checking accounts
• High-yield savings accounts
• Money market accounts
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Car insurance
• Home buying
• Options pit
• Investment ideas
• Research reports
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

Cal-OSHA is experiencing a staffing crisis. Here’s how that endangers California workers

Newsom stays silent on cal-osha staffing crisis as legislators and advocates call for action.

Editor's note: Viewing this story in our app? Click here for a better experience on our website.

Carlos Castro doesn’t remember the day he became paraplegic. He only knows what happened through the accounts of others.

Before his life-altering injury, Castro worked as a journeyman pipefitter based in San Jose. He laid miles of piping in some of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable buildings, including the corporate headquarters for Google and Intel.

On the day of the accident, Nov. 3, 2020, Castro and his coworkers were hoisting chilled water pipes into place for a new data processing center. Photos and video show Castro on a scissor lift, wheeling his way toward the nearly 2,000-pound load that was suspended 16 feet into the air. His job was to secure the pipe in place.

All of a sudden, the concrete pipe crashed down. It cracked Castro’s helmet and pinned him to the scissor lift. His coworkers say he was unconscious and not breathing for two or three minutes.

The accident landed Castro in the hospital for nearly six months. The pipe crushed his spine, and fragments of bone badly bruised his spinal cord. He is now permanently paralyzed from the chest down. He also suffers constant pain around his midsection where the functioning nerves on the top of his body connect to the paralyzed ones below.

“It feels like if you had two giant hands, and there were jagged rocks inside of them, and they were (scraping) on your torso all day,” Castro said. “I deal with that every day.

Castro’s lawyer says the employer’s carelessness should have warranted an investigation for possible criminal negligence. Yet, the company, Southland Industries, who declined The Bee’s request for comment, will never undergo a criminal probe of any sort related to Castro’s accident. It can never be held criminally responsible for his injuries.

In fact, no one will ever know whether Castro’s employer acted illegally when it put his life in danger that day.

Why? Because Cal-OSHA – the state agency responsible for keeping more than 18 million Californians safe on the job – suffers from severe and chronic understaffing.

The personnel shortage overburdens Cal-OSHA employees with an unreasonably heavy workload, according to the several current and former staffers who spoke with The Bee. They say it also hurts California workers, whose cases sit in backlogs for months as employers face minimal consequences for endangering employee health and safety.

The understaffing is so severe that Cal-OSHA must prioritize which cases it investigates for potential criminal prosecution. Castro’s case doesn’t make the cut. Because he didn’t die.

“We all know that one of the major purposes of criminal prosecution is as an incentive to employers to make sure the job is safe, so that people don’t take shortcuts,” said Jack Stein, Castro’s attorney.

“You can’t just ruin a man’s life and walk away.”

Both current and retired Cal-OSHA personnel describe the division as a workplace in crisis whose leaders lack the political will to fix the problem. Leadership is also in short supply at the division, workers say, especially since the former chief Jeff Killip resigned last month .

A Sacramento Bee investigation found numerous examples of how the staffing shortage is causing serious harm, both to state employees and California’s front-line workers.

Specifically, The Bee identified a number of troubling circumstances:

▪ The overall vacancy rate at Cal-OSHA is 34%, according to a Bee analysis of the latest organization chart. Among health and safety inspectors, that rate rises to 37%, as Cal-OSHA’s hiring data shows .

▪ The Cal-OSHA Bureau of Investigations, which is legally obligated to investigate every fatality for possible criminal negligence, has operated with at least a 50% vacancy rate for each of the last six years. Currently, the BOI has only two investigators for the entire state – a 67% vacancy rate.

▪ Due to short staffing, the BOI is unable to even look at cases that aren’t fatalities. This means that people such as Castro, who sustain serious injuries but don’t die, will never benefit from a Cal-OSHA investigation into possible criminal negligence. They won’t ever know for sure whether their employer was criminally liable for their injuries.

▪ The Cal-OSHA branch that enforces workplace standards is fully funded outside of the state’s General Fund, and relies predominantly on a combination of federal grants, industry fees and employer surcharges. Still, the branch operates with a 37% vacancy rate.

▪ Hiring new staff quickly has been challenging due to various complications. The state of California tries to compete for a small talent pool by offering relatively low salaries compared to private industry while also imposing stricter minimum qualifications. The state’s byzantine merit hiring process doesn’t make the task any easier. Neither does the excessive human resources bureaucracy within the Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees Cal-OSHA.

▪ Cal-OSHA staff say the severe personnel shortage is just one symptom of a larger culture problem within the Department of Industrial Relations. The onerous workloads force site inspectors to rush through cases. As a result, not only can quality be compromised, but veteran staff burn out faster than the department can hire new talent. This “brain drain” creates a vacuum of institutional knowledge.

Cal-OSHA sets and enforces California workplace standards, which experts say are exemplary on a national and global stage. The enforcement branch inspects worksites and issues citations to employers who violate standards, while the consultation branch educates and supports businesses to increase workplace safety. The division had a budget of roughly $225 million, according to 2023-24 budget documents. Of the more than 920 positions listed in Cal-OSHA’s most recent organization chart, about a third were vacant.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s federal OSHA program oversees and largely funds California’s state-administered plan. Regulators noted in their most recent evaluation that Cal-OSHA’s vacancies have greatly limited the agency’s ability to proactively inspect workplaces and prevent accidents before they happen. Instead, the division is stuck playing defense.

Federal OSHA’s 2022 annual evaluation of Cal-OSHA noted, among other issues caused by staffing, that “Cal/OSHA cannot conduct planned inspections of high hazard employers at the national average rate.”

Specifically, it noted that just 18.5% of Cal-OSHA’s inspections are “programmed.” In other words, only about one in five inspections are preventative and could catch violations before an accident occurs and potentially injures — or kills — a worker.

In contrast, the national average for programmed inspections is 40%.

Leaders at Cal-OSHA, and even DIR Director Katie Hagen, admit that the division isn’t hiring quickly enough. Internal numbers show that the division knows it’s losing workers faster than it can replace them. And experts say nothing short of immense political will from Gov. Gavin Newsom could fix the problem.

“It’s a perfect storm of screw-ups here,” said Garrett Brown, a retired industrial hygienist who served as special assistant to former Cal-OSHA Chief Ellen Widess.

Since his departure in 2014, Brown has served as an unofficial watchdog and tried to call attention to the hiring crisis. He regularly reviews Cal-OSHA’s hiring updates, crunches the numbers and sends out email blasts with calls to action.

Brown laments the decline of an agency that was once, from his perspective, a national leader in protecting workers and holding employers accountable. If internal culture doesn’t change, he posits, Cal-OSHA will never be able to staff itself adequately enough to fulfill its mission.

“Eventually, the best people leave or are pushed out. What’s left behind is a toxic culture,” Brown said. “The deterrent effect of Cal-OSHA has greatly diminished.”

Cal-OSHA personnel aren’t alone in their concerns about a floundering agency. Lawmakers, such as Democratic Assemblywoman Liz Ortega of Hayward, have taken notice and hope to spur change. For starters, Ortega wants an independent audit of Cal-OSHA.

“We pass all these great laws here in California, but they don’t do any good if they’re not being implemented and enforced,” said Ortega, who chairs the Assembly’s Labor and Employment committee. “To say I’m infuriated is an understatement.”

Justice delayed, justice denied

One of those diminished deterrents is the ability for Cal-OSHA to investigate criminal negligence.

More than 450 California workers were killed on the job each year in 2020, 2021 and 2022 — the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is the duty of a little-known, but vital, branch of Cal-OSHA to determine whether the employer should bear criminal responsibility for those deaths.

That branch, known as the Bureau of Investigations (BOI), is tasked with investigating all accident-related deaths and life-altering injuries (such as amputations and permanent paralysis).

Cal-OSHA’s BOI is one of a kind. No other state, and not even federal OSHA, has such an entity dedicated to investigating criminal violations of labor code.

Chris Kuhns, a special investigator with the BOI for 14 years, said he stayed with the job because he believed in the bureau’s mission. He knew their work could force real change and hold nefarious employers accountable for killing and hurting their employees.

“I believed in that job,” Kuhns said. “I believe we got justice for families, and I believe that we were able to send a message to industries: ‘Please, abide by the safety regulations, because it kills people. And if you don’t, you can be criminally punished.’”

But Kuhns said the bureau’s severe staffing shortage made it impossible for him to do his job properly.

California state law requires that “the bureau shall be staffed by as many attorneys and investigators as are necessary.”

A decade ago, when it was fully staffed, the BOI had six investigators, plus a supervisor. Now, the bureau has only two investigators for the entire state – one in Northern California, and one in Southern California. That’s a 67% vacancy rate.

Widess, the former Cal-OSHA chief, oversaw a better-staffed BOI in her time. She is deeply troubled by the bureau’s current status since the BOI has great power to deter employers from endangering workers, she said.

“To have two investigators to cover 19 million workers is outrageous,” Widess said. “The BOI should be a well-supported unit.”

In 2013, the BOI referred nearly 30 cases to county prosecutors, and only six were rejected. That number fell to just seven referrals in 2021, of which five were rejected, according to the latest available BOI annual report . (DIR spokesman Peter Melton told The Bee, “The 2022 BOI report is still being finalized.” The 2023 BOI report, by law, must be completed this month.)

The pressure to prioritize only the strongest cases and triage the rest means the BOI closes the majority of worker death investigations due to “lack of sufficient evidence.” Really, Kuhns said, the most accurate explanation is “lack of time to amass sufficient evidence.”

The bureau is so overburdened that it won’t even consider non-fatality cases, Kuhns said. In response to questions from The Bee, DIR did not deny that this was indeed a Cal-OSHA practice.

This reality disqualifies someone like Castro, who suffered a life-altering injury but survived, from receiving a criminal investigation from Cal-OSHA.

“It pisses me off,” Castro told The Bee in December.

Castro’s lawyer, Stein, said the main purpose of the BOI and criminal prosecution is to “make members of the public or members of the construction industry aware that if they violate these rules, they’re going to be punished.”

Got fines? It’s fine. Just appeal them

A criminal charge from the BOI isn’t the only punishment an employer can face. Much more common are civil fines and citations from Cal-OSHA’s enforcement division.

Understandably though, employers want to keep their records clean. Safety citations are public records that can hinder companies in the contract bidding process. Therefore, many employers bring their citations to the Cal-OSHA Appeals Board, a judicial body comprised of three people appointed by the governor.

But the lengthy appeals process significantly delays the payment of fines. It also creates extra work for an already strapped Cal-OSHA staff. Furthermore, the strict timetable for contesting citations actually incentivizes employers to appeal in order to buy themselves more time.

When an employer receives a citation, they only have 15 working days to file an appeal.

“You’re not going to be able to complete an investigation and have an understanding of your defenses in that period of time,” said Lisa Prince, principal attorney at the Prince Firm who has represented employers in Cal-OSHA matters for more than 20 years.

Prince said that in the past, employers would sometimes come to agreements during informal conferences with Cal-OSHA district managers and thus avoid the long road to an Appeals Board hearing.

But staffing shortages at Cal-OSHA, plus new limits on district managers’ power to alter citations, have all but guaranteed that appeals are the norm. Prince recalls that district managers used to have “quite a bit” of authority to negotiate and amend citations.

“I’m frequently told now that they have to go to a regional manager or even higher up in the organization, in some cases,” Prince said. “Or they need to consult with Cal-OSHA’s legal department.”

Brown, the former assistant to the Cal-OSHA chief, said safety inspectors now have to spend even more time gathering evidence because appeals have become inevitable. Inspectors are already under pressure to open and close cases quickly to pick up the slack for their departed colleagues.

“You just have work piling up on your desk,” Brown said, “and so does headquarters.”

As a result, Cal-OSHA inspectors rarely issue significant citations, such as “willfulls” and “repeats” that require the most compelling evidence and are the likeliest targets for time-consuming appeals.

One of the most important ways for Cal-OSHA inspectors to prove that someone has committed a significant violation – and ensure it stands up on appeal – is through an on-site visit.

But again, due to staffing shortages, Cal-OSHA has far less capacity to complete on-site inspections. Between 2001 and 2021, the percentage of inspections conducted by letter rose by more than 30% while on-site inspections fell by that same proportion.

Brown’s assessment: “There’s just no way you’re going to be able to do a four-visit inspection of a place when you’ve got 15 complaints sitting on your desk that need attention.”

A stretched and shorthanded division

The problem with Cal-OSHA’s staffing shortage goes beyond holding employers accountable and keeping California workers safe. It also has a dramatic negative effect on its own workforce.

Cal-OSHA employees describe a strained and short-handed workplace that rewards those who keep their heads down and churn through cases. Cal-OSHA’s overall vacancy rate hovers around 34%, according to a Bee analysis of staffing data. But among the “compliance safety and health officers” who perform on-site inspections, that rate jumps to 37%, Cal-OSHA data shows .

The resulting department – a shell of its ideal self – triages cases and maintains the appearance of “doing more with less” at the expense of California workers’ health and safety. Cal-OSHA personnel say those who resist or criticize the triage mindset mark themselves as targets for ire or retaliation from departmental leadership. Employees say these intimidation tactics stifle accountability.

“If you complain, if you push back, you will get fired,” said one safety engineer who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal workplace culture at Cal-OSHA and DIR. “They will blow their whole budget on retaliation.”

DIR spokesperson Peter Melton said the department takes employee concerns “seriously” and has a whistleblower policy in place.

“Our Chief Auditor reviews employees’ reports carefully and takes appropriate action,“ said Peter Melton, DIR spokesman. “Anyone on our team who has a concern or complaint can raise them without fear of retaliation.”

Over time, the crushing workload and subsequent low morale have resulted in “brain drain” with experienced workers burning out faster than the department can replace them.

For example, the Cal-OSHA enforcement branch, which inspects worksites and issues citations among other duties, lost 49 people between Jan. 1, 2021 and Jan. 31, 2024, according to the latest available data .

The staffing shortage isn’t a new problem. In fact, the division has struggled with vacancies and low morale for decades, retired employees say.

Under Widess’s leadership, Brown embarked on a listening tour in 2011 and interviewed personnel at several district offices to learn how Cal-OSHA could better support its staff. The challenges outlined in his report still persist today, more than a decade later.

“Perhaps the most corrosive belief revealed in the interviews was the widespread opinion that Division staff, in the past, have been routinely treated with disrespect, severely criticized, and almost never supported or appreciated by managers and staff at higher levels in the organizational structure,” Brown wrote in his 2011 summary of the listening tour’s findings.

“In addition to a lack of positive feedback, supportive and professional interactions,” Brown wrote, “many interviewed employees described an atmosphere of constant ‘crisis management.’”

Understaffing meant the existing safety inspectors were under intense pressure to open and close cases quickly.

“It’s a numbers game. That’s all it is, really,” said Regina Quesada, a retired office technician who worked in the Concord district office for close to 20 years. Quesada retired in 2020. “You want your office to shine.”

Part of Quesada’s duties included running reports each month that showed when cases were opened and whether they’d been closed yet. If an inspector had a case that was approaching the six-month statute of limitations , Quesada would give them a heads up.

She described a culture that rewarded churn over quality.

“The district managers would have their meetings and they say, ‘Oh man, Sacramento did well. They opened this many cases, and these many cases were closed, and they got this much money,’” Quesada said. “They would shine, and the manager would be all happy because their office was doing well, whereas others were not.”

‘A Kafkaesque process’: Cal-OSHA’s hiring fiasco

If the problem at Cal-OSHA is understaffing, the solution is simple: Hire more people. Sounds simple, in theory. But in practice, it’s anything but.

California’s merit-based hiring process is notoriously slow. It’s so slow that one private career coach advises her clients to apply to 20 jobs a week. She warns them to not be surprised if they only receive interviews from one or two postings – or none at all.

But the situation at Cal-OSHA goes layers deeper than the typical sluggishness of state hiring.

Despite renewed efforts to double down on recruitment, Cal-OSHA’s highly stringent and overly bureaucratic hiring process makes the state harder to access and far less competitive compared to other job opportunities in the private sector.

Cora Gherga lived this nightmare.

Toward the end of her 27-year Cal-OSHA career, Gherga said she would often work 12-hour days, including weekends, as she scrambled to hire safety inspectors.

Despite her effort, Gherga kept hitting roadblocks. She recalls how the DIR human resources department directed her to create hiring materials, but then rejected her submissions with little more explanation than, “This isn’t good enough.” Sometimes the hiring packets “went into a black hole for a week” before she heard back. She was told that, as a hiring manager, she couldn’t directly contact DIR human resources. Instead, she had to go through Cal-OSHA’s administrative team.

“It’s a Kafkaesque process, hiring. It’s nightmarish,” said Gherga, a former industrial hygienist, manager and assistant chief for enforcement. “I personally could barely hire two or three people.”

A past case of nepotism is largely to blame.

The Department of Industrial Relations lost its authority to hire in 2019. Audits and investigations found that Christine Baker, former DIR director, and her subordinates engaged in unfair hiring practices that benefited Baker’s daughter and a personal friend.

The department earned back its ability to hire in March 2021. By then, Baker’s successor, Hagen, said she was already trying to steer the ship in a better direction. She highlighted her own background in human resources as an asset.

“Since I arrived on the day of the stay-at-home-order for COVID, I’ve been trying to put the pieces back together and improve the hiring process,” Hagen told The Bee in an interview. “We have been very actively hiring.”

Hagen concluded that DIR’s human resources team overcompensated after losing its ability to hire. They “really dug in on the rules” to make sure the department was precisely following all the state’s hiring laws. Hagen says she and her leadership team are working to “bring us back to center.”

“I get why folks overcorrected,” Hagen told The Bee. “Trust me, I used to be an HR practitioner many years ago, and if there was one thing that kept me awake every night, it was worrying about an illegal hire.”

As of Nov. 30, DIR had seven vacant “personnel specialist” positions in its human resources department. With 16 total positions, that translates to a nearly 44% vacancy rate for that role. The department also only has one senior personnel specialist.

Put another way, the very people tasked with fixing Cal-OSHA’s staffing crisis are, themselves, understaffed.

For field inspector roles, the department almost always receives fewer applications than the number of open positions. In the last 36 months, there were only six months in which applications outnumbered open positions.

Gherga contends that Cal-OSHA missed out on exceptional candidates simply due to the lengthy hiring timeline. Sometimes it took so long for DIR human resources to review and approve a hire – weeks to multiple months – that by the time she made the offer, the person had moved on and accepted another opportunity.

“It didn’t feel like we had support from the department,” Gherga said. “I didn’t think I could make a difference anymore.”

Before someone in Gherga’s position can interview candidates though, those people have to want to work for Cal-OSHA. And they have to know how to navigate the state’s convoluted application process.

class="hide-from-app"

The demand for safety professionals far outpaces the supply of qualified applicants, says Yousif Abulhassan, a Sacramento State professor who advises students within the university’s Occupational Health and Safety program . Most of his students graduate with at least one or two offers in hand.

“That’s a great thing for students pursuing a degree in this area,” Abulhassan said. “However, that also makes it challenging in terms of employers trying to recruit and, essentially, making these jobs lucrative for early career professionals to join.”

Abulhassan tells his students that working for Cal-OSHA is a great way to gain experience and familiarity with a wide variety of regulations. Then, once they refine their interests further, they could specialize in a specific industry.

But typically, pay is the deciding factor for students when choosing where to work, Abulhassan said. One of the highest paying sectors for young safety professionals is the oil and gas industry, where he estimates that fresh graduates can net a six-figure starting salary. Comparatively, the salary range for Cal-OSHA’s entry-level safety engineering job tops out at less than $90,000 a year. The top range for a junior industrial hygienist is less than $75,000.

“There is a significant gap in these salaries,” Abulhassan said. “I think that’s what makes it challenging for students to go work for OSHA.”

Still, there are young aspiring safety professionals whose career goals include working for Cal-OSHA. Isabella Sandoval, one of Abulhassan’s students, said she plans to work for a few years in private industry and gain enough experience to obtain her “Certified Safety Professional” credential before applying for jobs with Cal-OSHA.

Various members of Sandoval’s family work in construction, and several of them – including her father and brother – have suffered work-related injuries.

“There’s a lot of people like my family that aren’t being taken care of, or are underrepresented, and I really want to make sure that they can come home safe to their families so that they don’t have to go through what my family went through,” Sandoval said. “I want to keep people safe.”

When asked how Cal-OSHA’s understaffing might affect her decision, Sandoval said she was still all in.

“It just sounds like work that needs to get done,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Despite her strong interest, Sandoval hasn’t had the chance to network with anyone from the division. Her professors frequently bring in guest speakers who often open doors to internship and job opportunities for students.

Sandoval, however, doesn’t recall anyone from Cal-OSHA ever coming to her classes to recruit.

A tight state budget isn’t the issue

Money is often the limiting factor when it comes to filling positions quickly. It’s no secret that businesses – and the State of California – choose to keep positions unfilled for budgetary reasons.

But that’s certainly not the case for Cal-OSHA.

Hagen told The Bee the division has received more than 180 authorized positions in the last four state budget cycles, which she described as “a lot for a program their size.”

Furthermore, even with the projected $38 billion budget gap that the Newsom administration announced last month, Cal-OSHA’s funding comes from sources other than the state’s General Fund. A surcharge on employees’ workers compensation insurance premiums pays a large share of the salaries for Cal-OSHA’s enforcement personnel.

For a particularly puzzling staffing situation, look no further than Cal-OSHA’s Process Safety Management Division – a branch that monitors the state’s refineries and chemical plants.

The Legislature significantly expanded the PSM’s responsibilities after a 2012 Chevron refinery fire sent an estimated 15,000 Bay Area residents to emergency rooms with respiratory complications.

In response to the disaster, then-Gov. Jerry Brown committed to improving refinery safety in California.

As a result, the Legislature mandated that refineries shut down periodically to perform necessary maintenance. The legislation instructed Cal-OSHA inspectors to visit each refinery during these annual “turnarounds” to observe and monitor operations.

In addition, separate legislation authorized Cal-OSHA to collect fees from the refinery industry to fund at least 15 PSM positions annually. Those industry fees generate $4.3 million per year in funding for Cal-OSHA.

The state currently dedicates 10 safety inspectors – five based in Santa Ana and five in Concord – to refinery monitoring.

Still, despite being funded by industry, four of those 10 positions are vacant.

The PSM was also leaderless for much of the last year. Former chief Clyde Trombettas left the department in October 2022 and now oversees process safety management at the Phillips 66 refinery in Rodeo. The PSM just recently hired a new chief.

The emphasis on refinery safety is just one example of how California’s governor and legislators can spur progress if they put their minds to it.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way

Each current and former Cal-OSHA employee who spoke to The Bee stated there was one person who could turn the tide on the staffing issue: Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Former Gov. Brown used his political will to promote refinery safety. Similarly, Newsom has committed to protecting workers from extreme heat as climate change pushes summer temperatures dangerously high.

In public-facing communications, the governor’s office consistently touts Cal-OSHA as a key resource for protecting workers from excessive heat and enforcing proper standards for employers.

But doing so requires additional resources, such as people – in this case, Cal-OSHA safety inspectors – and time, which is currently in short supply for those few safety professionals still employed by the division. Unfortunately, the well-intentioned bill that codified an indoor heat standard did not include any requirement that Cal-OSHA increase staff to handle the subsequent increase in complaints and inspections.

Still, the division adopted a “Heat Illness Prevention Special Emphasis Program” in 2022 that outlines precise duties and responsibilities for Cal-OSHA personnel from the chief all the way down to the safety inspectors. The policy gives top priority to heat-related complaints and requires inspectors to conduct on-site inspections for all outdoor heat complaints.

“All outdoor heat-related complaints (formal and non-formal) will be addressed via onsite inspection,” reads the SEP. “There shall be no investigation by letter in lieu of inspection of any alleged outdoor heat-related complaint.”

One current Cal-OSHA safety inspector, who spoke with The Bee on the condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation, said staff have had to put accident-related cases on the back burner to prioritize the mandatory in-person response to heat-related complaints.

The San Bernardino office is stretched particularly thin. With only six of its 14 safety inspector positions filled, the team is left scrambling to juggle both a “staggering amount” of accident cases as well as heat-related complaints, according to an email from the manager of the district office, obtained and reviewed by The Bee.

Safety inspectors in San Bernardino are “overwhelmed and over-saturated” with cases and “cannot keep up,” wrote Michael Loupe in an email sent last May to a Cal-OSHA regional manager and a senior safety engineer. Loupe pointed out that the SEP outlines provisions in which inspectors from other districts can be reassigned to help understaffed offices like his own.

But, as the email states, “This is not happening!”

“I am not able to receive, process and assign Heat Complaints in accordance with the attached 2022 Heat SEP,” the email exchange read. “The Indoor HEAT SEP mandatory response expectation is its own self-inflicted crisis.”

When reached for comment, Loupe, who did not provide the emails to The Bee, declined to elaborate further beyond what was written in the messages.

“The emails speak for themselves,” said Loupe, who is currently on stress leave and said he couldn’t comment further due to fears of retaliation from his employer.

Political will is a powerful tool that has been used before to drive Cal-OSHA’s priorities, according to Gherga, the former assistant chief of enforcement. During her time at Cal-OSHA headquarters, “There was a lot of pressure to do whatever was the hot issue of the day,” she said.

The Assembly Labor and Employment committee recently held a more than three-hour hearing during which Assemblywoman Ortega, the committee’s chair, pressed acting Cal-OSHA chief Debra Lee about what the division is doing to address its vacancies so inspectors are available to quickly respond to workers’ reports of violations.

Ortega was particularly frustrated with the inconsistencies between Lee’s remarks and testimony given by multiple California farm workers. The laborers testified that Cal-OSHA inspectors had previously been unresponsive, rude and on some occasions even tipped off employers before inspections.

“Having the acting OSHA director come in and talk about all the things that they are planning to do, but haven’t really done , and just hearing all the discrepancies in that room is what led to my comments about how infuriated and frustrated I was,” Ortega told The Bee. She hasn’t spoken directly to Cal-OSHA inspectors, but she said she has no doubts that “they’re trying their best, and that this is a leadership issue.”

Ultimately, if Gov. Newsom is going to continuously tout California’s economic prowess, then he needs to simultaneously commit to strengthening the state’s employment safety division, argues former chief Widess.

“To remain the fifth-largest economy in the world, we need a safe and healthy workforce to make that economy run, “ Widess said. “And you need a strong Cal-OSHA to make that happen, to level the playing field for the good employers who are providing a safe workplace.”

Widess argues that Newsom could return Cal-OSHA to its once-premier status as a national leader in worker health and safety, if only he put Cal-OSHA’s leadership and staffing issues near the top of his priority list.

“There has to be a commitment at the very top,” Widess said. “I hope the governor takes a good, hard look at a program that was touted to be the best in the nation.

“We’ve lost our gleam.”

The Bee’s Joe Rubin contributed to this story.

Maya Miller | Reporter

Paul Kitagaki | Visual Journalist

Alvie Lindsay | Editor

Nathaniel Levine | Visuals Editor

Rachel Handley | Illustrations & Design

David Newcomb | Development, Graphics & Design

Samantha Sullivan | Audience Engagement and Story Promotion

Recommended Stories

Boban marjanović hilariously misses free throws on purpose to give clippers fans free chicken.

Boban Marjanović is a man of the people.

Yankees pitcher Fritz Peterson, infamous for trading wives with a teammate, dies at 82

Former New York Yankees left-hander Fritz Peterson died at the age of 82. He is probably best known exchanging wives with teammate Mike Kekich in the 1970s.

2024 Masters payouts: How much did Scottie Scheffler earn for his win at Augusta National?

The Masters has a record $20 million purse this year.

Nike responds to backlash over Team USA track kits, notes athletes can wear shorts

The new female track uniform looked noticeably skimpy at the bottom in one picture, which social media seized upon.

Rob Gronkowski's first pitch before the Red Sox's Patriots' Day game was typical Gronk

Never change, Gronk.

UFC 300: 'We're probably gonna get sued' after Arman Tsarukyan appeared to punch fan during walkout

'We'll deal with that Monday,' Dana White said about Arman Tsarukyan appearing to punch a fan during his UFC 300 walkout.

Mock Draft Monday with Daniel Jeremiah: Bears snag Odunze, Raiders grab a QB

It's another edition of 'Mock Draft Monday' on the pod and who better to have on then the face of NFL Network's draft coverage and a giant in the industry. Daniel Jeremiah joins Matt Harmon to discuss his mock draft methodology, what he's hearing about this year's draft class and shares his favorite five picks in his latest mock draft.

76ers' statue for Allen Iverson draws jokes, outrage due to misunderstanding: 'That was disrespectful'

Iverson didn't get a life-size statue. Charles Barkley and Wilt Chamberlain didn't either.

'Sasquatch Sunset' is so relentlessly gross that people are walking out of screenings. Star Jesse Eisenberg says the film was a ‘labor of love.’

“There are so many movies made for people who like typical things. This is not that," the film's star told Yahoo Entertainment.

GM is moving out of its Detroit headquarters towers

Something's happening with General Motors' headquarters buildings, and it may mean they'll no longer be GM's headquarters buildings.

Tesla layoffs hit high performers, some departments slashed, sources say

Tesla management told employees Monday that the recent layoffs -- which gutted some departments by 20% and even hit high performers -- were largely due to poor financial performance, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The layoffs were announced to staff just a week before Tesla is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings. The move comes as Tesla has seen its profit margin narrow over the past several quarters, the result of an EV price war that has persisted for at least a year.

Travis Kelce receives his University of Cincinnati diploma, chugs a beer on stage

Nobody is going to change the Kelce brothers.

Report: USA basketball roster for Paris Olympics to feature LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid

USA Basketball is finalizing its roster for the upcoming Paris Olympics

Anthony Davis leaves Lakers season finale with back spasm, accuses Larry Nance Jr. of 'dangerous play'

Davis and head coach Darvin Ham are optimistic that Davis' latest injury won't sideline him for Tuesday's play-in game against the Pelicans.

Verne Lundquist signs off from the Masters: 'It's been an honor and a privilege'

Verne Lundquist ended a 40-year run at the Masters.

NBA Rookie Power Rankings 6.0: Victor Wembanyama finishes season at the top of the class

Here's a final look at Yahoo Sports' rookie rankings for the 2023-24 season.

Red Sox reliever Kenley Jansen criticizes quality of 'embarrassing' baseballs

Boston Red Sox reliever Kenley Jansen complained about the quality of MLB's baseball after struggling in his outing versus the Los Angeles Angels.

The Spin: When to cut a big-name player in fantasy baseball

Many fantasy managers become too afraid of making a mistake, of making a wrong decision. Scott Pianowski explains why that fear is a detriment.

2024 NBA Awards: All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie selections

Here's one voter's awards ballot with All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie selections.

2025 Toyota 4Runner (finally!) revealed, and the new Trailhunter is extremely cool

The 2025 Toyota 4Runner is finally arriving this fall with a full lineup including returning TRD Pro and new Trailhunter. Hybrid power now available.

• Employment Contracts
• New Hire Documents
• New Anti-Discrimination Laws
• At-Will or For Cause Termination
• Time and Attendance Laws
• Paycheck Stub Review
• Independent Contractor
• Employment Development Department
• Business Contracts
• Breach of Contract
• Business Owners
• Construction
• Entrepreneurs
• Manufacturers
• Non-Profits
• Professional Services
• Restaurants
• Staffing Companies
• Technology Companies
• Publications
• Additional Resources
• Our Philosophy
• Join Our Team

2023 CAL/OSHA Regulations That Employers Need To Know

As a California employer, it is essential to understand the role of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA, and its impact on your business. Cal/OSHA is responsible for enforcing regulations to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for employees across the state. In a constantly evolving regulatory landscape, staying up-to-date with the latest Cal/OSHA regulations is crucial to maintaining a compliant and safe work environment.

In this blog post, we will provide an overview of the key 2023 Cal/OSHA regulations, covering new COVID-19 workplace guidelines and changes in reporting and record-keeping requirements as well as updates to heat illness prevention standards, workplace violence prevention, and wildfire smoke protection. As an experienced business and employment defense law firm, Hackler Flynn & Associates strives to help California businesses navigate these complex regulations and implement appropriate safety measures in the workplace.

New COVID-19 Workplace Safety Guidelines

With COVID-19 still around, Cal/OSHA has updated its guidelines once again to help employers maintain a safe workplace. Here are the key changes that you need to know:

• Updated guidance on maintaining a safe workplace amid the evolving COVID-19 pandemic: Cal/OSHA has adopted the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) definition of the infectious period for COVID-19 cases. This means employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 can return to work after five days without a negative test, provided they feel well, their symptoms are improving, and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours.
• Vaccination policies and accommodation requirements: Employers should review their vaccination policies and ensure they are up to date with the latest guidance from both Cal/OSHA and CDPH. This includes understanding the legal implications of vaccine mandates and providing reasonable accommodations for employees who cannot be vaccinated due to medical or religious reasons.
• Social distancing and face-covering recommendations: While social distancing measures have been relaxed in many settings, employers need to continue monitoring the latest guidelines from Cal/OSHA and CDPH. According to the revised guidance from Cal/OSHA, COVID-19 cases that return to work must wear a face covering for ten days after symptoms first appear or their first positive test.

Employers should stay informed of the ongoing changes to COVID-19 safety guidelines and adapt their workplace policies accordingly. By doing so, businesses can ensure the health and safety of their employees and maintain compliance with Cal/OSHA regulations. For a closer look at all of the updates to the COVID-19 safety guidelines by the Cal/OSHA, visit their page .

Changes in Reporting and Record-keeping Requirements

Cal/OSHA has implemented changes to reporting and record-keeping requirements to enhance the tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses. These changes include revisions to the electronic submission of recordkeeping forms for establishments in high-hazard industries and a redefinition of serious injuries and illnesses due to Assembly Bills 1804 and 1805 , which took effect on January 1, 2020. 

Under a new proposed rule , establishments with 20 or more employees in specific high-hazard industries must continue electronically submitting Form 300A Annual Summary information once a year to OSHA. Additionally, establishments with 100 or more employees in the highest-hazard industries are required to submit Form 300 Log and Form 301 Incident Report information once a year to OSHA while continuing to submit information from their Form 300A Annual Summary electronically. On the other hand, establishments with 250 or more employees, not in designated high-hazard industries, would no longer be required to submit recordkeeping information to OSHA electronically. 

Moreover, employers are now required to report serious injuries, illnesses, and fatalities to Cal/OSHA by telephone or through a specified online mechanism that Cal/OSHA will establish for reporting. Until Cal/OSHA creates the online reporting mechanism, employers may continue to make reports by telephone or email. Employers are always encouraged to immediately report serious injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by telephone to the nearest enforcement district office.

Employers are also required to maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses for at least five years, including a summary of the previous year’s incidents. Proper documentation and maintenance of records ensure compliance with Cal/OSHA regulations and promote workplace safety.

Heat Illness Prevention Standards

Cal/OSHA has introduced updates to the heat illness prevention program requirements to protect workers in outdoor and indoor workplaces further. These updates are relevant to industries with workers exposed to high temperatures, ensuring they are provided with proper hydration, shade, and monitoring of weather conditions.

A recent Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) decision clarified the provision of water at outdoor worksites, emphasizing that potable drinking water must be “as close as practicable” to workers to encourage frequent consumption. This decision ensures that employers take adequate measures to keep workers hydrated, which is crucial for preventing heat illness.

In the case of Rios Farming Co. , some workers had to climb through multiple grape trellises to access drinking water, leading to a citation for not having water as close as practicable for their employees. The OSHAB decision affirmed that “as close as practicable” means water must be as close as reasonably achievable to promote frequent water consumption. Reasonable options for employers include providing a jug of water in each row where employees work or offering individual water bottles that workers can carry and refill from the jugs.

In addition, Cal/OSHA has initiated the formal rulemaking process for heat illness prevention in indoor places of employment. A public hearing is scheduled for May 2023 to discuss the proposed regulation, which aims to enhance worker safety in indoor workplaces exposed to high temperatures. The proposed regulation addresses various aspects of indoor heat illness prevention, including temperature thresholds, implementation of engineering and administrative controls, employee training, and access to cool-down areas, among others.

Workplace Violence Prevention

Workplace violence continues to be a growing concern, and new regulations in California aim to address this issue by requiring employers to develop and implement comprehensive workplace violence prevention programs. These programs are designed to ensure employee safety and minimize the risk of violent incidents in the workplace.

California has enacted legislation that requires Cal/OSHA to adopt general industry workplace violence prevention regulations. These regulations will cover a wide range of industries and mandate the implementation of measures to prevent and address workplace violence. Employers are required to develop and implement workplace violence prevention programs tailored to their industry’s specific needs and risks. These programs must include procedures for identifying and assessing potential hazards, implementing preventive measures, and addressing incidents of workplace violence when they occur.

In addition to developing a comprehensive workplace violence prevention program, employers should establish a system for employees to report incidents of workplace violence and provide a clear and accessible process for investigating and resolving such reports. Employers are also required to provide regular training for employees on the risks and prevention of workplace violence. This training should cover the specific hazards associated with their industry and general information on workplace violence prevention and response strategies.

Employers must maintain records of all incidents of workplace violence and report serious incidents to Cal/OSHA in accordance with the established guidelines . By implementing these new regulations and ensuring that employees are equipped with the necessary knowledge and tools to prevent and address workplace violence, California employers can work towards creating safer and more secure work environments for all.

Wildfire Smoke Protection

With the increasing frequency and severity of wildfires, it is essential for employers to protect their workers from the harmful effects of wildfire smoke exposure . California has introduced regulations outlining employers’ responsibilities to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees during wildfire events.

Employers must monitor air quality and inform workers about the potential risks of wildfire smoke . When the Air Quality Index (AQI) for particulate matter reaches or exceeds 151, employers must take action to minimize employees’ exposure to smoke. This includes modifying work schedules or relocating workers to areas with better air quality if feasible. Employers should also provide clear and timely communication about air quality levels and any necessary precautions workers should take to minimize exposure.

In addition to monitoring air quality and communication, employers are responsible for providing proper respiratory protection equipment, such as N95 masks, to their workers. This equipment should be readily available for use when the AQI reaches or exceeds 151. Employers must train their employees on the proper use and maintenance of respiratory protection equipment to ensure its effectiveness in protecting against wildfire smoke exposure.

In conclusion, compliance with Cal/OSHA regulations is essential for California employers to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees. Staying up-to-date with the latest regulations and adapting workplace policies is crucial for maintaining a compliant and safe work environment. As a leading business and employment defense law firm, Hackler Flynn & Associates is dedicated to assisting California businesses in navigating these complex regulations and implementing appropriate safety measures in the workplace.

If you’re a California employer seeking assistance with Cal/OSHA regulations and workplace safety, don’t hesitate to reach out to Hackler Flynn & Associates . Our experienced team of legal professionals is here to help you navigate the complexities of compliance and implement effective safety measures to protect your employees and your business. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your organization in staying up-to-date and compliant with the latest Cal/OSHA regulations.

Your html code will go here

Content on the website should not be considered legal advice and is for information purposes only. Communications made through the website do not create an attorney-client relationship. Hackler Flynn and Associates is not responsible for any content that you may access from third-party resources that may be accessed through or linked to this website. Hackler Flynn & Associates is only licensed to practice in California.

We would also like to inform you that the Hackler Flynn and Associates website uses cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing to browse, you acknowledge this.

Communications made through the website do not create an attorney-client relationship.  Information transmitted to the attorney or through the website may not remain confidential.