Employee safety is a top concern in many California industries, and Cal/OSHA is ever vigilant when it comes to enforcement. How can you avoid costly compliance missteps? Todd Hunt, Esq., has some tips for employers.
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Hunt is the principal of the Los Angeles Law Offices of Todd C. Hunt, APC, frequently advising employers concerning their internal safety programs and representing them in appeals of OSHA and Cal/OSHA citations and penalties.
Why Is It Important?
Employers should know the Cal/OSHA standards (and missteps regarding them) not only to avoid the penalties that come with noncompliance but also so that they don’t have to learn the hard way should an accident happen. Emergency situations can be very chaotic, says Hunt—it’s important to be prepared.
Hunt admits that it’s impossible to identify ALL of the potential risks and hazards for all potential emergencies, but the best strategy is to identify all likely hazards beforehand and to come into compliance with the most cited issues that inspectors might look for. For example, Cal/OSHA is particularly focused on heat illness/exposure standard violations, warns Hunt.
With this in mind, here are Hunt’s top 10 federal OSHA citations (we’ll see in a moment how California differs):
- Fall Protection (Construction)
- Hazard Communication
- Scaffolding (Construction)
- Respiratory Protection
- Powered Industrial Trucks
- Lockout/Tagout
- Ladders (Construction)
- Electrical Wiring
- Machine Guarding
- Electrical Systems Design
A Different Top 10 for California
To a certain degree, Cal/OSHA is beholden to federal OSHA, says Hunt, but really, Cal/OSHA operates on its own. By comparison to the federal list above (which tended to focus on broader categories of violations), here are Hunt’s top 10 Cal/OSHA citations to prepare for:
- Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)
- Heat Illness Prevention
- IIPP (Construction-specific)
- Hazard Communication
- Lockout/Tagout
- Portable Fire Extinguishers
- Failure to Report Serious Injuries (Hunt notes that federal OSHA is actually trying to catch up with Cal/OSHA on this point in terms of diligence.)
- Respiratory Protection
- Air Tank Permits
- Work Around Electrical Equipment
There are some similarities here—but Hunt says the differences at the top of the list are very telling. While some strictly California-based employers might be on point with these differences, they may cause headaches for nationwide companies with worksites in California. Let’s take a closer look at the particularly unique top two.
IIPP
IIPPs have been around for many years, explains Hunt and, for much of that time, have been completely unique to California. In fact, Hunt suspects that the reason IIPPs are the number one citation for Cal/OSHA is that nationwide employers haven’t caught on to the fact that their California worksites need one. Basically, an IIPP is a safety plan that:
- Enumerates hazards;
- Explains how the hazards will be addressed;
- Outlines what sort of inspections an employer will make to discover new potential issues;
- Defines steps to be taken for training employees; and
- Requires updates to the plan as necessary.
While many companies may do something like this nationwide, it isn’t as formalized as California’s IIPP. However, this is changing, says Hunt—he has noticed that over the past decade or so, more and more non-California employers are going down this path despite the lack of a requirement. It’s just good practice to put this information into writing.
The requirements for California IIPPs are very specific, says Hunt. Become familiar with the regulation (Title 8, Section 3203, check out http://www.dir.ca.gov/title8/3203.html), and make sure your safety plan fits the bill.
Heat Illness Prevention
California was very much on the forefront of creating this standard, says Hunt, which was primarily rolled out to address the needs of agricultural workers who spend their entire day outside. In more recent years, though, Cal/OSHA has started applying this standard to nonagricultural employers—in fact, to pretty much ANY employer that has employees who work outside for ANY part of the day, notes Hunt. So be sure you know the extent to which this applies to you!
California employers should educate themselves on the regulation, CCR Section 3395. Hunt provides www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/HeatIllnessInfo.html as a good source of general information and a starting point to learn more, and proposed amendments to modify the standard can be found at www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/documents/Heat_illness_prevention_15day(2).pdf. Hunt notes that the comment period for this closed as of January 5, 2015.
New aspects of the law to be aware of include:
- Shade trigger temperatures have been reduced to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) (from 85°F);
- A mandatory cooldown has been added for agricultural workers in high heat (10 minutes every 2 hours);
- Emergency response requirements are heightened; and
- Acclimatization requirements are heightened.
Labor code penalties apply, says Hunt—the cooldown period is, in many cases, being treated like a meal or rest break. Be proactive and avoid civil suits.
Information Is Power
Now that employers are aware of the top issues to be aware of, how can they best use the information? Focus your resources and efforts to protect yourself and address issues that will be most glaring to an inspector, says Hunt. Here are a few suggestions:
- Conduct internal audits. This may include:
- Periodic “walkaround” inspections;
- Hazard assessments;
- Employee involvement in safety aspects (this is sometimes required under California law); and
- Document and/or policy reviews—don’t forget your IIPP!
- Preinspection preparations. If you’re anticipating a Cal/OSHA inspection (or perhaps they’re coming back), Hunt urges employers to remember the following:
- Employee and manager training;
- Employee involvement;
- Document/policy maintenance; and
- “Housekeeping.” Just be sure basics are followed, like having electrical wiring squared away and documentation in place, says Hunt.
A Common Pitfall
Be prepared but be aware, says Hunt. Any safety professional wants to encourage open dialogue, but that dialogue needs to be responsible. Be conscious of any inflammatory language in employee communications (e.g., e-mails that overstate dangers for dramatic effect) and acknowledge and respond to it appropriately. Follow through, and document your actions (or inactions should you decide change is not warranted).
Proper communication and documentation is absolutely important in the course of any inspection or investigation, says Hunt. Employers must demonstrate diligence.
Resources for Employers
In closing, Hunt provides the following useful Cal/OSHA resources:
- www.dir.ca.gov/dosh
- www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/etools/etools.htm, which offers help navigating:
- Heat Illness Prevention
- IIPPs
- Lockout/Tagout for Employers
- Portable Ladder Safety
- Cal/OSHA Recordkeeping
- www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/PubOrder.asp
- www.cal-osha.com
- www.osha.gov