Wednesday, March 28
9 a.m. Pacific
A 3-hour webinar
Cost: $299 per access point
California has a unique and independent OSHA program with aggressive enforcement against employers in the state. Business and government employers need specific training on Cal/OSHA compliance and inspection management to avoid substantial penalties and accident related liability. Cal/OSHA Inspections, Enforcement, and Defenses is designed to train managers and others involved in employee safety and Cal/OSHA compliance on managing the Cal/OSHA enforcement process and addressing recent changes in state OSHA law.
You Can’t Afford To Ignore Cal/OSHA
Unless you run a federal installation, Fed/OSHA does not conduct inspections in this state and its standards are irrelevant as Cal/OSHA has its own thousand pages of safety orders which are substantially different (more standards and more detail compared to comparable federal standards). For example, did you know that under AB 1127 and the state’s unique Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) Standard [8 CCR §3203] an employer must anticipate foreseeable accidents and devise controls or work practices to prevent injuries or suffer an $18,000 penalty?
Recent Legislation Makes Cal/OSHA Enforcement Even Tougher
2010 legislation (AB 2774), which went into effect this year, makes serious citations more likely because the violation is considered serious if there is a reasonable possibility of serious harm (more broadly defined to include lesser injuries) instead of a substantial probability of serious injury. A new pre-issuance procedure also complicates the employer’s response.
Accident Prevention Strategy Solves Cal/OSHA Problems
An employer which has an active and well documented accident prevention program as part of its IIPP can virtually always effectively defend against Serious Citations and even more onerous workers’ compensation serious and willful claims by proving reasonable diligence and/or employee negligence. Attendees will learn what to do and how to document accident prevention.
Cal/OSHA Has Unique Requirements and Tough Enforcement
The following are examples where employers who do not know Cal/OSHA frequently get into trouble:
- Self-reporting of any serious injury within 8 hours is required compared to Fed/OSHA’s three serious injuries from the same accident and is enforced with a $5,000 mandatory penalty.
- An accident-related serious violation carries a mandatory minimum $18,000 fine based on AB 1127 and any serious citation can result in a penalty ranging from $2700 to $25,000. Note: Unlike Fed/OSHA, Cal/OSHA does not have to prove the employer knew or should have known about a violation for it to be serious, but an accident prevention program showing reasonable diligence is a defense.
- Multi-employer madness is how Cal/OSHA’s policy of issuing citations to all employers involved in a worksite accident or standard violations, including the host or controlling employer has been described.
- Governmental employers are fully subject to Cal/OSHA citations and penalties.
- A willful violation that causes death or serious injury is a felony in California and can result in imprisonment of a manager or supervisor and a $250,000 fine and a $1.5 million fine to the corporate employer. Note: One business owner has been sentenced to 9 years in state prison, others have “copped pleas” for huge fines and probation, and several have been prosecuted, but acquitted at trial.
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