On July 21, 2016, Andrew J. Sommer and Eric J. Conn, of Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA Practice, presented a webinar regarding important Cal/OSHA issues that all employers who do business in California must understand.

The state of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), better known as Cal/OSHA, is perhaps the most aggressive and enforcement heavy approved state OSH program in the country.  Cal/OSHA faces many fewer bureaucratic and political obstacles than fed OSHA in developing new rules (really legislation).  Accordingly, California employers face a host of requirements that employers around the country do not.  Likewise, the Cal/OSHA inspection and appeal process creates several unique landmines for California employers.

Participants in last week’s webinar learned the following:

• Cal/OSHA’s 1BY Process (Notice of Intent to Issue a Serious Violation)
• Differences between Fed OSHA and Cal/OSHA Injury Reporting Requirements
• The California-unique Heat Illness Prevention Rule (with Rest and Recovery periods)
• Cal/OSHA’s Evolving Approach to Citing “Repeat” Violations