California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has issued a revised workplace violence-prevention standard, covering key definitions, transportation applications, employee representatives’ access to records and other key measures that appear to be winning cautious support from employer-side groups.
September 16, 2026
California worker safety and immigrant advocacy groups are touting a settlement between California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) and the GEO Group, a firm that runs private prisons and detainee centers, that includes a $104,510 fine against the company for violating a host of safety and other rules applying to detainees who worked at the facilities.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) updated proposal to modify its workplace inspection “walkaround” rule to reflect federal OSHA’s rule on who can serve as an employee representative during inspection visits is prompting continued pushback from employer representatives who had sought a number of significant revisions to an earlier draft.
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California lawmakers are continuing to advance a bill aimed at bolstering California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) probes of serious worker-safety violations through its Bureau of Investigations (BOI), and to establish a first-time pilot program to require BOI to send fatality incidents directly to county prosecutors for faster potential criminal enforcement actions.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is poised to approve an expanded set of safety rules for the installation, maintenance and operation of elevators, escalators and other conveyances that labor unions and other backers say represent the most stringent provisions in the country and could serve as a model for other states.
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Worker-safety advocacy groups and employer representatives continue to clash over proposed amendments to California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) workplace violence-prevention standard, including over key definitions, employee representatives’ access to records and training requirements.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is granting a petition to launch a rulemaking to prohibit the fabrication and installation of artificial stone products containing more than 1 percent crystalline silica -- a move to protect workers after hundreds have contracted the deadly lung disease silicosis in recent years and more than 30 have died.
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California lawmakers are advancing some bills to bolster Cal/OSHA worker-protection standards and enforcement, while blocking others, including an industry-sponsored measure that would have required Cal/OSHA to develop an application and certification process for artificial stone fabrication shops to help reduce crystalline silica exposure.
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An employer advocacy organization is complimenting California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) for proposing to scale back certain provisions of a long-overdue rule to update the agency’s first-aid kit standard for general industry and construction, including over how “readily available” the kits must be and to what extent vehicles are included.
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Employer attorneys are finding both beneficial and potentially troublesome changes to California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposed workplace violence-prevention standard, including narrowing the breadth of certain situations requiring action by employers but expanding compliance obligations for employer-provided transportation.
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