Revisions to California’s standards finally arrive

• The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has formally published revisions to California’s standards on lead in both the construction and general industry standards … 13 years after it first proffered. The proposal is already controversial.
• The revisions have started the clock on the 45-day comment period. It ends on April 20 with a public hearing before the Board in Sacramento.
• Stakeholders will need the time for the massive revisions to Construction Safety Orders §1532.1 and General Industry Safety Orders §§ 5155 and 5198, which has about 165 pages of additions, strikethroughs, and retained language.
• The Board’s Initial Statement of Reasons, which explains the proposal and its justification, runs 104 pages.
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OSHA targets two more Dollar General stores

• OSHA opened investigations against Dollar General in North Dakota at the Dunseith and Rolla stores. The exact details of those investigations are unclear at this time.
• Some of the safety issues included fire exits being blocked by rolling carts and boxes.
• The report also revealed that flammable products were also being stored near the entrance of the store, which is prohibited.
• A total of eight stores are now being investigated by OSHA.
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Michigan launches mental health hub

• Workers in Michigan and their employers have new online resources and tools aimed at improving mental health. The initiative was launched by the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
• The online hub includes materials on workplace stress, mental health, and suicide prevention in construction from the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• A renewed focus on mental health is critical to building strong workplaces, a strong workforce, and strong communities, according to the report.
• One of the goals is to ensure the state is a model employer to other businesses for workplace mental health and safety.
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Citations issued after deadly electrocution

• A worker in Centre County, Pennsylvania, died after being electrocuted in August 2022, and now his employer is facing multiple safety citations from OSHA.
• Centre WISP, an internet service provider, committed serious workplace violations when Alexzander Fries, 19, of Weedsville, was killed while working on a residential cabin in Spring Mills on Aug. 10, 2022.
• Fries was electrocuted when he was in the bucket of his work truck and encountered a power line.
• The serious workplace safety violations were that Centre WISP failed to properly train Fries on the safety procedures to work around a 7,200-volt line.
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