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Cal/OSHA recently issued interim safety guidelines for preventing exposure to the Ebola virus. California’s guidelines are aimed at identifying safety practices for the types of workers Federal officials have identified to be at potential risk of exposure in this country, including health care workers, emergency responders, laboratory staff, mortuary workers, airline flight crews, airport staff, border protection workers, and quarantine operations staff.

Since California’s workplace safety and health standards are more stringent than the federal standards for infectious diseases such as Ebola, California’s guidelines are drawn from the state standards. The new guidance recommends employers do the following:
Continue Reading Cal/OSHA Issues Guidance on Ebola Virus

Cal/OSHA is reminding all employers to protect their outdoor workers from the risk of heat illness, as temperatures in parts of Southern California climb into the upper 90s today and will continue to rise through the weekend and into early next week.

“California’s heat illness standards are the strongest in the country, and we will…

On August 8, 2014, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“Cal OSH Board”) proposed revisions to its Heat Prevention Regulations at Title 8, Section 3395 (“Section 3395”).   According to the Cal OSH Board, the revisions are aimed at improving worker safety in all outdoor places of employment and reducing the incidence of heat illness.  Although the proposed revisions have not yet been adopted, outdoor employers should closely watch the Board’s upcoming actions because the revisions may require them to invest significant resources to change their programs, training, and approach to the prevention of heat illness.
Continue Reading Cal OSH Board Proposes Revisions to Heat Prevention Regulations

New law SB 1360 has clarified that recovery periods, like rest periods, are paid time. This is a significant clarification of the law since there was an ambiguity in the past whether recovery periods were to be treated as paid time or unpaid time. Until now, the situation was unclear as recovery periods were mandated by California Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA) regulations, not the California Labor Code.
Continue Reading Recovery Periods, Like Rest Periods, are Compensable Time