Employer-focused attorneys say they expect California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to take additional and more aggressive enforcement actions in the coming year, including a potential new focus on criminal prosecutions, as a result of the agency recently filling long-vacant inspector and other positions.
November 15, 2026
A petition to California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board seeking a ban on artificial stone slabs containing more than 1 percent crystalline silica to prevent more cases of the deadly lung disease silicosis is sparking new debate over whether a ban is appropriate or if state officials should substantially ramp up enforcement of worker-safety standards.
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California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials are examining if they can work with law enforcement and health officials in several counties to expand enforcement and bring criminal charges against stone fabrication shop owners who are violating worker-protection standards, as the state continues to see a troubling increase in cases of the deadly lung disease silicosis.
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California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials are attacking OSHA’s proposal to remove medical evaluation requirements from its respirator standard, while offering recommendations to help ensure the standard is as protective as possible should OSHA proceed with its planned changes.
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California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is outlining steps it is taking to improve the agency’s inspection and enforcement efforts following a highly critical state audit released in July, including actions to better document why inspections are pursued or not, conduct inspections in a timelier manner, ensure fines are properly assessed, and increase staffing levels.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight, but signed a measure to reduce worker exposure to crystalline silica in the stone fabrication industry.
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Industry and business groups are ramping up a campaign to convince California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to veto a labor-backed bill to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make certain employment decisions -- including those aimed at aiding worker safety -- without human oversight.
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An employer advocacy group is heavily faulting California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposed first-time rules to protect workers from sliding and swinging gates at worksites, arguing the measures capture far too many small gates and go far beyond the breadth of coverage envisioned in a petition accepted by the agency to draft the new standards.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is partially granting two petitions seeking review of separate worker-safety rules covering residential construction worker falls and bird flu exposure, though they are rejecting requests by the petitioners for emergency standards to address their concerns.
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California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is slated to consider at its meeting later this month two petitions that board staff are proposing to mostly reject -- one to delay implementation of federal rules to protect residential construction workers from falls, and the other to expand a standard to protect dairy and poultry workers from bird flu.
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