CAL/OSHA IN THE NEWS
February 2024
- “Overworked and Underprotected; Cal-OSHA is experiencing a staffing crisis. Here’s how that endangers California workers,” Maya Miller, Sacramento Bee, February 22, 2024
- “California tightens rules on worker exposure to poisonous lead. ‘The evidence is undeniable,’” Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, February 15, 2024
- “Deadly work for high-end poultry; Death and injury – family-owned poultry business among most dangerous in Central Valley,” Melissa Montalvo, The Fresno Bee, February 8, 2024
- “California lawmakers blast state’s workplace safety agency over ‘dangerous’ farmworker conditions,” Mackenzie Mays, Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2024
- “Is California’s workplace safety agency protecting farmworkers? Legislators want to know,” Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters journalism website, February 7, 2024
- “Whither Cal/OSHA? Ground-breaking standards, but no one to enforce them,” Garrett Brown, Confined Space blog, February 1, 2024
- “California is poised to protect workers from extreme heat – Indoors,” Samantha Young, KFF Health News journalism website, January 3, 2024
December 2023
- “Dying in the fields as temperatures soar,” by Liza Gross and Peter Aldhous, Inside Climate News, December 31, 2023
“Chief of California’s OSHA program steps down as agency vacancy rate reaches historic levels,” Maya Miller, Sacramento Bee, December 21, 2023 - “Rules to protect laborers enacted; State OKs emergency measures to prevent silicosis, lung disease killing stone cutters,” by Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, December 14, 2023
- “CDC rift with Cal/OSHA over when to use N95 masks could put California health workers are risk again,” Amy Maxmen, San Francisco Chronicle, December 8, 2023
- “At SpaceX, worker injuries soar in Elon Musk’s rush to Mars,” Marisa Taylor, Reuters, November 23, 2023
- “California countertop workers died of a preventable disease. The threat was known years earlier,” Emily Alpert Reyes and Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2023
- “OSHA investigates small dairy farms so rarely that many worker advocates don’t bother to report deaths and injuries,” Melissa Sanchez and Maryam Jameel, ProPublica, November 13, 2023
- “State wage theft investigators say staffing crisis is hurting the agency,” Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED, July 18, 2023
- “OSHA’s limits for toxic exposure cause preventable harm to Silicon Valley workers,” Ruth Silver Taube, San Jose Spotlight, May 11, 2023
- “California regulators drafting Emergency Rule to combat deadly lung disease,” Jim Morris and Kim Krisberg, Public Health Watch, May 10, 2023
- “Cal/OSHA staff shortage creates backlog of cases,” Dan Ross, Capital & Main, January 10, 2023
- “Ancient lung disease strikes countertop cutters in LA,” Jim Morris and Leslie Berenstein Rojas, LAist, December 2, 2022
- “’Health and Safety are at risk’: Only 1 California safety inspector is bilingual in Chinese or Vietnamese,” Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED, November 21, 2022
- “’Minimal to non-existent,’: Safety inspector shortage worsened in pandemic, leaving California workers vulnerable,” Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED, June 2, 2021
2020 Los Angeles Times series
- “Meatpacking was already risky. Then came the virus,” September 8, 2020
- “Wanted: California workplace safety retirees to help confront coronavirus crisis,” August 14, 2020
- “California agency for protecting workers can’t protect its own – even amid a pandemic, officials say,” August 7, 2020
- “California worker safety agency ‘missing in action’ during coronavirus, critics say,” July 16, 2020
Links to selected articles and reports on occupational health and safety
- September–December 2017
- July–September 2017
- May–July 2017
- April–May 2017
- February–March 2017
- January–February 2017
- November–December 2016
- October–November 2016
- August–October 2016
- June–August 2016
- May–June 2016
- February–April 2016
- December 2015–February 2016
- November–December 2015
- October–November 2015
- August–September 2015
- June–July 2015 list
- May–June 2015 list
- April 2015 list
- March 2015 list
- December 2014 list
- September 2014 list
- May 2014 list
June 2015
Los Angeles Times, “Cal/OSHA settles farmworker suits over heat-related deaths,” June 11, 2015
Industrial Safety and Hygiene News, “Cal/OSHA continues to reduce the number of compliance officers,” June 23, 2015
September 2014
Labor Notes, “Will California Unions Protest? Safety Enforcement Weakened by ‘Friends of Labor’ Politicians”
August 2014
Los Angeles Times, “Safety Lapses at Cal/OSHA” – August 24, 2014 (see the end of “Ride-sharing…” article)
Bay Area News Group newspapers reprint Fair Warning profile “Still Speaking Out; Cal-OSHA retiree comes back swinging” – August 10, 2014
Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, “Potential national implications of Cal/OSHA’s ‘new direction’” — August 12, 2014
Labor Notes, “Viewpoint: California Job Safety Weakened By ‘Friends of Labor’” — August 8, 2014 http://www.labornotes.org/2014/08/viewpoint-california-job-safety-weakened-friends-labor-politicians
July 2014
Los Angeles Daily News reprints Fair Warning profile “Labor activist who chose to work within the system is outside once again” – July 28, 2014
Fair Warning, “Labor Activist Who Chose to Work Within the System is Outsider Once More, and Again Crusading for Job Safety” – July 24, 2014
Industrial Safety & Hygiene News, “Former Cal/OSHA staffer says he witnessed political coup that forced out agency head” – July 17, 2014 http://www.ishn.com/articles/99079-former-calosha-staffer-says-he-witnessed-political-coup-that-forced-out-agency-head
May 2014
Industrial Safety and Hygiene News: “Why you should care about Cal/OSHA’s budget and political troubles,” May 9, 2014. http://www.ishn.com/articles/98577-why-you-should-care-about-caloshas-budget-and- political-troubles
The Pump Handle blog: “Is California keeping people safe at work? Labor advocates say no,” May 14, 2014. http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2014/05/14/is-california-keeping-people-safe-at-work-labor-advocates-say-no/
Reposted at the Center for Effective Government: http://www.foreffectivegov.org/blog/is-california-keeping-people-safe-work-labor-advocates-say-no
April 2014
Safety & Health magazine (National Safety Council): “‘Starvation Diet’? A report from a former Cal/OSHA employee claims the agency is understaffed – even though funding is available,” April 1, 2014. http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/10075?utm_source=Real+In+this+issu e+–+April+2014&utm_campaign=inThisIssue&utm_medium=email
Southern California Public Radio: “Former top Cal/OSHA official claims agency funds misspent or unspent,” April 1, 2014. http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/04/01/43205/former-top-cal-osha-official-claims-agency-funds-m/
Industrial Safety and Hygiene News: “Whistleblower claims California is misusing Cal/OSHA funds,” April 2, 2014. http://www.ishn.com/articles/98294-whistleblower-claims-california-is-misusing- calosha-funds
February 2014
Los Angeles Times: “Group to file complaint against Cal/OSHA over staffing levels,”February 10, 2014. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-worker-safety-20140211,0,4087573,print.story
Sacramento Bee: “Public employee group says California workplace safety department starved for inspectors,” February 10, 2014. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/10/6145741/public-employee-group-says- california.html
Southern California Public Radio: “2 top former Cal/OSHA officials accuse agency of failing to protect workers,” February 10, 2014. http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/02/10/42131/two-top-former-officials-accuse-cal-osha-of-failin/
EHS Today: “Watchdog Group: Cal/OSHA’s staffing has fallen below minimum standard for federal funding,” February 11, 2014. http://ehstoday.com/osha/watchdog-group-calosha-s-staff-level-has-fallen-below-minimum-standard-federal-funding
Safety & Health magazine (National Safety Council): “Low staffing, funding levels at Cal/OSHA politically driven, insider report says,” February 14, 2014. February 2014 website posting: http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/9934- low-staffing-funding-levels-at-calosha-politically-driven-insider-report-says
