Cal/OSHA regulates employee safety at places of employment.  Historically, household domestic services were excluded from the definition of a “place of employment” and therefore Cal/OSHA’s jurisdiction. With a swish of his duster pen, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 1350, which removes this exemption and grants Cal/OSHA control over household domestic services with the

As Golden State employers know, a new workplace violence prevention law for non-healthcare employers went into effect on July 1, 2024.  Cal/OSHA, the agency charged with overseeing workplace safety and health, has been directed to develop regulations to implement this new law.

Many employers are hoping that the new regulations will shed some light on

Last year, California’s Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 553, which requires most employers to establish, implement, and maintain an effective Workplace Violence Prevention Plan (WVPP). The law is enforceable on July 1, 2024. Cal/OSHA is responsible for enforcing the requirements of SB 553, now codified in California Labor Code Section 6401.9.

Recently, Cal/OSHA

Cal/OSHA has been working on a proposed Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Standard since 2017. Now, nearly 5 years later, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board published a draft standard and announced a public hearing on Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment. This comes after Cal/OSHA had stepped up enforcement of indoor heat hazards despite no

On March 3, 2023, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board published notice of proposed revised regulations pertaining to workplace exposure to lead for the general industry and construction safety orders.

In its Initial Statement of Reasons for the revisions, the Board indicates that the existing requirements are based on lead toxicity information and medical and epidemiological data

In October 2022, Governor Newsom announced the California COVID-19 State of Emergency would end on February 28, 2023. While this will phase out some of the tools the state used in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, it does not mean the end of all COVID-19 regulations and requirements for employers.  Three illustrative examples are discussed

California employers take note: the non-emergency version of the Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Prevention regulations are now in effect.

At the end of 2022, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board voted to adopt the COVID-19 Prevention non-emergency regulations to replace the Emergency Temporary Standard(ETS).

On February 3, 2023, the California Office of Administrative Law approved the non-emergency standard.

California employers are required to post their annual summary of work-related injuries and illnesses, in a visible and easily accessible area at every worksite from February 1st through April 30th. Cal/OSHA’s Form 300A must be used for this posting.

Employers can find an overview regarding completing both the log (Form 300