California Workplace Safety Regulations and Compliance Standards

California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) sets and enforces the standards for workplace safety and health. These regulations aim to protect employees from hazards and ensure a safe working environment. Compliance with Cal/OSHA standards is a legal requirement for all employers in California.

General Workplace Safety Requirements

Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)

Every employer in California is required to establish, implement, and maintain an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) in accordance with Section 3203 of the General Industry Safety Orders. [10]

Code of Safe Practices

Employers must adopt a written Code of Safe Practices that relates to their operations, containing language equivalent to the relevant parts of Plate A-3 of the Appendix. This code must be posted conspicuously at each job site office or provided to each supervisory employee for ready availability. Periodic meetings of supervisory employees, directed by management, are required to discuss safety problems and accidents. Supervisory employees must also conduct 'toolbox' or 'tailgate' safety meetings with their crews at least every 10 working days to emphasize safety. [10] [10] [10] [10]

Employee Information and Training

When workers are first employed, they must be given instructions regarding the hazards and safety precautions applicable to their work and directed to read the Code of Safe Practices. Only qualified persons are permitted to operate equipment and machinery. Employees subject to known job site hazards, such as flammable liquids and gases, poisons, caustics, harmful plants and animals, toxic materials, and confined spaces, must be instructed in hazard recognition, self-protection procedures, and first aid procedures. [11] [11] [11]

CAL/OSHA Notice

Employers are required to post the CAL/OSHA Notice of Employee Protections and Obligations ('Safety and Health Protection on the Job') immediately upon receipt and keep it posted. The notice must be placed in a conspicuous location where notices to employees are customarily posted in each establishment. For physically dispersed activities like construction or transportation, the notice must be posted at each location employees report to daily, or at the location from which they operate. Employers must ensure these notices are not altered, defaced, or covered by other material. [2] [2] [2] [2]

The CAL/OSHA notice must include the address and telephone number of the nearest Division of Occupational Safety and Health office. It must inform employees of their right to report unsafe working conditions and request a safety inspection. The notice must also state that no employee shall be laid off or discharged for refusing to perform work that violates the California Labor Code, any occupational safety or health standard, or any safety order of the Division, where such violation would create a real and apparent hazard. Additionally, the notice must inform employees that each citation, Special Order, or Order to Take Special Action issued under the California Labor Code must be prominently displayed at or near each place where a violation occurred. [2] [2] [2]

Hazard Communication

The CAL/OSHA notice informs employees that employers using hazardous substances must provide information on the contents of material safety data sheets (MSDS) or equivalent information, training employees to use the substances safely. Employers must make MSDS available on request to employees, collective bargaining representatives, or an employee's physician. Employees also have the right to see and copy medical records and records of exposure to potentially toxic materials or harmful physical agents. The notice also states that employers must provide an opportunity for employees or their representatives to observe the monitoring or measuring of employee exposure to hazards and allow access to accurate exposure records. [18] [18]

Employee Exposure Notification

Whenever an employee has been or is being exposed to toxic materials or harmful physical agents in concentrations or at levels exceeding those prescribed by applicable standards, the employer must promptly notify the employee in writing. The notification must include the fact of the exposure and the corrective action being taken by the employer. [3]

Employee Rights During Monitoring

Whenever an employer is required to conduct tests or monitoring to determine employee exposure to hazards, the employer must notify the affected employees or their representative before commencement of the testing, monitoring, or measuring. The employer must provide the affected employees or their representatives with the opportunity to observe the testing, sampling, monitoring, or measuring. Affected employees, employees, or their representatives must be allowed access to the records and reports of the results of the testing monitoring or measuring. [5] [5] [5]

Employee and Employer Compliance

Every employer and every employee must comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders pursuant to Division 5 of the California Labor Code applicable to their actions and conduct. Failure to post the required CAL/OSHA Notice may result in a fine of up to $1,000 per violation. [18] [18]

Construction Safety Orders

Application of Construction Safety Orders

The Construction Safety Orders establish minimum safety standards for employment connected with the construction, alteration, painting, repairing, construction maintenance, renovation, removal, or wrecking of any fixed structure or its parts. These orders also apply to all excavations not covered by other safety orders for a specific industry or operation. At construction projects, these Orders take precedence over any other general orders that are inconsistent with them, except for Tunnel Safety Orders or the Pressurized Worksite Standards in Article 154 of the General Industry Safety Orders. Machines, equipment, processes, and operations not specifically covered by these Orders shall be governed by other applicable general Safety Orders. [12] [12] [12]

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

The employer shall require employees to use the required personal protective equipment, which must be approved for its intended use and distinctly marked for manufacturer identification. PPE shall be used according to the manufacturer's instructions. The employer must ensure that all required safety devices and safeguards, including PPE for the eyes, face, head, hand, foot, extremities, protective clothing, respiratory protection, protective shields, and barriers, comply with applicable Title 8 standards and are maintained in a safe, sanitary condition. Protectors must be designed, fitted, and durable enough to provide adequate protection against hazards, be reasonably comfortable, and not unduly encumber the employee's movements. [9] [9] [9] [9] [9]

Hygiene and Maintenance of PPE

Personal protective equipment must be kept clean and in good repair. Safety devices, including protective clothing, shall not be interchanged among employees until properly cleaned. [7]

Body Protection

Appropriate body protection is required for employees exposed to injurious materials. Clothing appropriate for the work being done must be worn; loose clothing shall not be worn around machinery. Clothing saturated with flammable liquids, corrosive substances, irritants, or oxidizing agents must be promptly removed and cleaned before being worn again. [13] [13] [13]

Ear Protection

Where required by Section 5096(b) of the General Industry Safety Orders, ear protection must be provided by the employer, and the employer must require employees to wear it. [17]

Glass Safety

Employees must be protected against the hazard of walking through glass by barriers or conspicuous, durable markings. [14]

Enforcement and Penalties

Civil Inspections and Investigations

Division compliance personnel conduct inspections and investigations under the California Occupational Safety and Health Act to invoke civil enforcement remedies. These remedies include issuing citations and civil penalties, special orders, orders to take special action, initiating injunction proceedings, issuing orders prohibiting use, and revoking or suspending permits. Division compliance personnel cannot initiate criminal proceedings. [1]

Non-Referral of Violations

During scheduled inspections, Division compliance personnel will invoke only civil enforcement remedies unless the violation is willful or repeated. This does not limit the Division's ability to enforce Labor Code Section 6326. [4]

Criminal Investigations

The Bureau of Investigations within the Division of Occupational Safety and Health conducts criminal investigations. The Bureau investigates accidents involving violations of a standard, order, special order, or section 25910 of the Health and Safety Code, resulting in serious injury to five or more employees, death, or a request for prosecution by a Division representative. The Bureau analyzes the circumstances to determine if the conduct falls within the scope of Labor Code sections 6423, 6425, and other penal statutes. [6]

Referral of Cases to the Bureau of Investigations

If Division compliance personnel become aware of conditions that may constitute criminal violations, the case must be referred through the Regional Manager/Supervising Industrial Hygienist to the Bureau of Investigations. The assigned investigator reviews the facts, interviews witnesses, and conducts a thorough investigation, preparing a report with evidence, findings, and recommendations. [8]

Correctional Industries Regulations

Complaint Definition

A complaint refers to any written allegation of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions at the place of employment of a state prisoner working in a correctional industry. The Cal/OSHA form 7 may be used, but is not required. [15]

Committee Definition

The term 'committee' refers to the correctional industry safety committee established at each Department of Corrections facility maintaining a correctional industry. [15]

Committee Notice

A committee notice is a written notice suggesting specific corrective measures and setting an appropriate abatement date, served upon the Department of Corrections employee with supervisory responsibility. Copies are served upon the warden/superintendent and the complainant. The committee posts a copy where employees exposed to the condition will likely see it, for 15 days or until the condition is corrected. [15]

Filing a Complaint

A complaint is deemed filed upon being deposited in a readily accessible complaint box or personally presented to any committee member. [15]

Duties of the Department of Corrections and the Committee

Neither the Department of Corrections nor the correctional industry safety committee shall abridge the right of correctional industry employees to file complaints or require referral of complaints to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. [19]

Division Participation in Correctional Industries

Upon receipt of a complaint from the committee, which it determines to constitute a bona fide allegation of a safety or health violation, the Division investigates within 3 working days if the complaint alleges a serious violation, and within 14 calendar days if the complaint alleges a general violation. The Division may give advance notice and may postpone the inspection for security or safety reasons. The Division also investigates every fatality and every employment accident involving serious injury to five or more correctional industry employees and may investigate any other reported accident or violation. [16] [16]

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