State Actions

Attorneys are advising employers to press California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) to include maximum flexibility within its forthcoming proposed infectious disease standard for general industry, in part by applying lessons learned from the problematic implementation of COVID-19 worker-safety rules and guidance during the pandemic.

California lawmakers are advancing a bill that would impose new restrictions and certification requirements for stone fabrication shops to protect workers from being exposed to crystalline silica and contracting silicosis, a measure that would expand on toughened rules recently approved by California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board.

A federal district court judge has dismissed for the second time litigation alleging North Carolina labor officials were administering the state’s workplace safety plan in violation of the federal OSH Act, finding the case raises no new issues from a previously dismissed challenge.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has vetoed legislation that would have required employers to implement control measures to address workplace violence safety concerns, arguing the bill is unnecessary even as employment law experts expect states to continue to consider such legislation in the absence of federal action.

Worker advocates and Kentucky’s governor are raising concerns about recently passed state legislation that if enacted would block regulators from enforcing years-old rules that are less protective than federal OSHA standards, setting up a test of whether the Trump administration will enforce statutory mandates for state program effectiveness.

A California lawmaker is advancing a bill to expand the state’s existing job-security protections for employees who refuse to perform “hazardous” tasks by providing such protection in cases where an employee “has a reasonable apprehension” that the task would result in injury or illness, and requiring full pay during the period of inactivity.

Debra Lee, who has been serving as California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) acting chief for the past eight months, told state lawmakers during her March 5 confirmation hearing that her priorities include aggressively working to hire new staff to fill a substantial number of vacancies and ensuring that a new program to protect agricultural workers becomes fully operational soon.

Several members of California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board and labor representatives are strongly criticizing a bill pending in Congress that would eliminate federal OSHA, charging such a move would be disastrous for workers across the country and weaken state protections even in states that have their own regulatory programs such as the Golden State.

Following the recent expiration of California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) COVID worker-safety standard, a state lawmaker is introducing a bill that would continue prohibiting employers from preventing workers from wearing masks or respirators if it is safe.

In the wake of the devastating Los Angeles County fires, California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) officials are emphasizing in new guidance that domestic workers are covered by agency labor code rules governing fire debris removal if they are helping to clean up properties impacted by the fire damage.