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Archive for the ‘Cal OSHA’ Category
Monday, April 26th, 2010
A worker lost two fingertips in an industrial accident Thursday morning in Perris, authorities said.
An injury involving a machine was reported about 8:15 a.m. at Four Slide Engineering, 4635 Wade Ave., said Capt. Scott Lane of the Riverside County Fire Department.
Sgt. Lisa McConnell of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Cal OSHA will investigate the incident, which involved a man doing machinist work.
Mike Mason, one of the owners of the small company, said the worker, who is in his early 20s and new to the trade, made an error while setting up a machine.
Article restated from the Press-Enterprise Company
Tags: Cal OSHA, industrial accident
Posted in Cal OSHA, Job Accidents | Comments Off
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
The handling of a patient with bacterial meningitis landed an Alta Bates Summit Medical Center employee and an Oakland police officer in intensive care and prompted California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) to issue citations to three employers, including willful allegations against Alta Bates.
The citations, issued April 19, were the first issued under Cal/OSHA’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) standard, which took effect last summer. DOSH issued citations to Alta Bates, and the Oakland Police and Fire departments, and is investigating possible meningitis exposure to ambulance drivers employed by American Medical Response.
The ATD standard is designed to protect workers in healthcare and related industries from diseases that are spread by coughing and sneezing. The standard has three levels of requirements, depending on the workplace. Besides healthcare facilities, it covers law enforcement, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, laboratories and emergency responders. In announcing the citations, DOSH Chief Len Welsh called the situation a “textbook case” of why the ATD standard was developed and said it is a “wake-up call” for other medical facilities and first responders.
The case occurred on Dec. 3, 2009, when emergency responders were summoned to a patient’s Oakland home. “Employees of all three responders at [the] scene were exposed to bacterial meningitis,” the Department of Industrial Relations says. The patient was transported to Alta Bates, where a respiratory therapist who directly treated the patient developed the disease and required 11 days of hospitalization, including time in the Intensive Care Unit. An Oakland police officer also developed meningitis and spent five days in the ICU.
Alta Bates was cited for alleged willful violations for not reporting the original meningitis case to local health authorities in a timely manner and for failure to conduct an exposure analysis of employees exposed to the potentially deadly disease for a week after the exposure. Alta Bates also was cited for not implementing an ATD program, not providing post-exposure information to employees, not properly fit-testing employees for respirators and not providing medical treatment for the exposed employee. Proposed penalties are $101,485.
Oakland P.D. was cited for allegedly failing to develop and implement an ATD program, not properly notifying the Fire Department and American Medical Response of the officer’s exposure, not obtaining a medical evaluation of the exposed employee, failing to report the hospitalization to Cal/OSHA and not notifying the officer of his exposure to meningitis. Proposed penalties total $31,520.
The Fire Department was cited for not having an ATD program and lack of exposure notification.
Cal/OSHA reminds employers that all employers involved in the transportation and treatment of patients exposed to bacterial meningitis are required to provide respiratory protection, report the case to the local health authority and employees or other employers exposed, and initiate appropriate medical treatment.
CAL OSHA Reporter Flash Report
Tags: Aerosol Transmissible Diseases, ATD standard, Cal OSHA citations, disease exposure
Posted in Cal OSHA, Enforcement, Fines | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
California occupational safety officials have issued one of their agency’s largest group of fines ever, $230,535 to Bimbo Bakeries for failing to fix safety violations that led to amputation of workers’ limbs.
Cal OSHA officials said that 20 alleged violations were documented at three factories belonging to the company, which produces brands that include Oroweat and Entenmann’s baked goods.
The food factories are in South San Francisco, Escondido and Montebello.
On Feb. 13, a separate investigation was opened at an Elk Grove California Bimbo factory where a worker lost the tip of a finger and some bone, according to Dean Fryer, spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The steps that Bimbo needs to take to ensure a safe work environment,” Cal-OSHA chief Len Welsh said in a statement Thursday. “We believe there are systemic problems which have resulted in numerous employees suffering amputations due to unguarded equipment.”
Fryer said this week’s citations are the largest issued against a one company for alleged “willful” continuing violations that could to lead to physical harm or death. Fryer said Cal-OSHA has documented six amputations of workers’ limbs or part of a limb at Bimbo plants.
One of the factories fined this week is in South San Francisco, where Bimbo employee Rosa Frias lost an arm in an industrial accident in 2003.
Bimbo was issued $21,750 in fines after an inspection found the company at fault. But after a nearly four-year appeals process, Cal-OSHA Appeals Board Judge Barbara Steinhardt-Carter reduced the fine to zero because she said there was no evidence that a Cal-OSHA inspector had presented credentials to enter the Bimbo bakery after Frias’ arm was severed. The inspector was retired by the time the appeals hearing was held and did not testify.
Cal-OSHA officials argued that the inspector had identified himself and that factory employees had allowed him into the plant. Inspectors have asked for the case to be reconsidered. “The documentation should have been ample enough” to uphold the fines, Fryer said.
The Cal-OSHA appeals process came under fire recently during legislative hearings at the state Capitol. Last summer, a third of Cal-OSHA’s inspectors signed a letter saying that appeals board policies had “sabotaged” their job of protecting California workers.
Numerous fines related to worker injury and death, including farmworkers’ deaths from heat exposure, had been dramatically reduced.
Bimbo has 15 days to appeal this week’s citations or accept and pay the penalties. Company spokesman David Margulies in Dallas had no comment on the alleged violations Cal-OSHA found.
The South San Francisco factory was issued a citation of $76,750 for alleged improper use of electrical cords and failure to prevent accidental movement of equipment during cleaning and maintenance. Frias’ arm was severed by equipment during maintenance.
The Escondido California factory was issued $123,535 in citations for having no injury prevention plan, no emergency eye wash or shower in a battery changing area and unguarded pulleys, sprockets and shafts on equipment. The Montebello factory was issued $30,250 in citations for having no emergency eye wash and unguarded equipment.
Tags: bimbo bakery, industrial accident, workplace fine
Posted in Cal OSHA, Enforcement, Fines, Job Accidents | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
The certification by Cal/OSHA and federal OSHA followed a three-year safety project at the Clean Harbors facility.
Clean Harbors, a Norwell, Mass.-based operator of more than 50 waste management facilities in North America and others located in Bulgaria, China, Sweden, Singapore, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, announced that its Buttonwillow, Calif. landfill has achieved OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs Star status. The certification followed a three-year safety project by Clean Harbors that was directed by a committee of employees at the 320-acre facility.
The company said VPP, Cal/OSHA, and Clean Harbors representatives conducted inspections and made additional recommendations during the project. “VPP certification is a rigorous process that was driven by our volunteer employee committee. All of our employees, as well as our contractors, were committed and participated in the process,” said Clean Harbors Buttonwillow General Manager Marianna Buoni. “The certification process was a natural extension to our traditional focus on health and safety in all of our operations. The VPP designation testifies to our safety culture and our commitment to provide a healthy work environment, now and in the future.”
The Buttonwillow Class One landfill accepts hazardous waste, including federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) waste and materials that fall under California hazardous waste regulations.
Tags: Clean Harbors, OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs Star, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Posted in Cal OSHA, Enforcement | Comments Off
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
News report about the recall of 3M 8000 respirators made reference to the “8000 series respirator.” That term has triggered a deluge of questions to Cal/OSHA about whether other 3M respirators are affected by the recall, which was ordered when health-care employers reported an unacceptably high failure rate during fit tests.
Only the 8000 series are affected on the State Respirator Recall. For instance, Craig Brown, senior industrial hygienist for the VHA Center for Engineering & Occupational Safety and Health in Pittsburgh, Pa., notes that there are several sub-series of the 3M 8000 N95 respirators with different face molds, such as 8210, 8211, 8511, 8612, 8670 and more. These are not affected by the recall.
The only respirators that have been recalled are the model 8000, says DOSH Senior Safety Engineer Deborah Gold. “Other 8000 series N95 respirators are not affected by the alert,” she says.
Via the Cal-OSHA Reporter
Tags: respirator fit, respirator recall
Posted in Cal OSHA, Enforcement | Comments Off
Monday, March 15th, 2010
The Department of Industrial Relations Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DIR/DOSH) reminds all California employees of their requirement to post at their place of business a list of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred at the workplace during 2009. The list must be displayed from February 1 through April 30 for employee review.
The required Cal/OSHA Form 300A is available online at www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/.
Employers are required to use form 300A to report the number of injuries each year, even if no work-related injuries occurred. The information must include the nature of the injury or illness, the severity of the work-related incidents and the number of days the affected employees missed work. Employers with 11 or more employees, except those covered in the California low-hazard establishments in retail, services, finance and real estate sectors, must display form 300A wherever employee notices are usually posted.
“Employers can use the data to identify injury and illness patterns and make changes to improve their safety program,” said DIR Director John C. Duncan. “It is one of Cal/OSHA’s many efforts to help employers identify recurring problems and eliminate them. Employers needing additional assistance can contact our Cal/OSHA Consultation unit for a free assessment of their safety programs to ensure that they provide a safe and healthful work environment for their workers.”
Employers who want to learn more about the posting requirements and how to reduce workplace injuries can get information at the Division of Occupational Safety and Health Website. For assistance from the Cal/OSHA Consultation unit employers can call (800) 963-9424. Employees with work-related questions or complaints can call the California Workers’ Information Hotline at (866) 924-9757.
Via BUSINESS WIRE
Tags: cal osha form 300A, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, job related injury posting, OSHA posting requirements
Posted in Cal OSHA, OSHA Regulations | 1 Comment »
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