California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposed workplace violence-prevention standard for “all industries” is coming under fire from state-level labor groups that say it is far narrower and less stringent than the agency’s existing rule that applies to healthcare facilities.
Labor union representatives are attacking California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) proposal to remove “exclusion pay” requirements from its proposed long-term COVID-19 worker-safety regulation, saying that if the state drops its existing requirement to pay infected workers for time away from their duties many will come to work sick and further spread the virus.
Employers are lining up against OSHA’s proposed withdrawal of federal approval for Arizona to operate an OSH Act state plan, saying the move has no reasonable basis and would undercut a “highly effective” program, while national unions and safety professionals are hailing the proposal as a necessary step for worker protections.
The Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) is raising a long list of defenses against OSHA’s proposal to withdraw its state plan authority under the OSH Act, saying the federal agency’s claim of a “history of shortcomings” by ICA is merely a “pretext” for a revocation and that it has never established a legal standard to deem a state program inadequate.
OSHA is formally proposing to grant Massachusetts’ application for OSH Act authority to enforce workplace safety standards for state and local government employees following years of quiet negotiations, clearing a path for the Bay State to become the seventh with state-plan authority only for government workplaces.
California lawmakers continue to advance a bill that would strengthen California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) worker-safety standards for heat and wildfire smoke despite opposition from industry and business groups, though proponents have recently softened the measure to delay its deadline for the agency to propose new limits by about a year.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has released a draft long-term COVID-19 rule that is already drawing employer concerns for its stricter definition of “close contact,” but the same stakeholders are welcoming plans to end the controversial “exclusion pay” requirement that mandates compensation for workers removed from their duties under the standard.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) has released a long-delayed new draft of its proposed workplace violence prevention standard that would govern “all industries” as a supplement to its existing, healthcare-specific rule, but the revisions are drawing early push-back from employer attorneys over its definitions and broad applicability.
Oregon OSHA has finalized what it says are the nation’s “most protective” work-safety rules for heat danger and wildfire smoke, largely maintaining proposed versions issued earlier this year but with some revisions, as Gov. Kate Brown (D) is touting the rules as a “national model” for other safeguards -- such as OSHA’s pending federal heat rule.
California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) is imposing a combined $1.75 million in fines against an oil refinery and three contractors for “serious” violations following a fatal 2021 incident, concluding that several of the companies failed to determine acceptable “entry conditions” for a confined chamber where a worker suffocated due to high argon levels.