Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Resigns

December 22, 2023

Killip is leaving Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health

  • Less than two years after being sworn in as chief of Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Jeff Killip is leaving the agency. His last day will be Jan. 19, according to the Department of Industrial Relations.
  • Neither DOSH nor DIR has made an official announcement, but the resignation was revealed Wednesday morning at a meeting of the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board, according to a participant.
  • “Cal/OSHA Chief Jeff Killip has advised he is leaving for personal reasons to return to Washington state,” DIR spokesman Erika Monterroza told Cal-OSHA Reporter. “DIR will soon be announcing a search for a new Cal/OSHA Chief.”
  • Killip formerly was acting deputy director at the Washington Safety and Health Administration, known informally as WSHA.
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OSHA hopes to have several rules in place by end-of-year

  • OSHA intends to advance several long-promised rules in either the final days of 2023 or early 2024.
  • This end-of-the-year push includes updated safety standards for powered industrial trucks and elevated walking surfaces.
  • Rulemaking actions for trucks, tree care and fall prevention, walking-working surfaces, and use of subpoenas have proposed release dates expected in February of 2024.
  • OSHA intended to finalize an update to its Powered Industrial Trucks Design Standard in November, a delay from the originally proposed July date.
  • The agenda indicates that OSHA’s high-profile rulemaking for heat danger, workplace violence, and infectious diseases remain on uncertain timelines.
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Fatal work injuries rose 

  • A report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found there were 5,486 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2022, a 5.7% increase from 5,190 deaths on the job the prior year.
  • In addition,  525 people died specifically from overdoses at work in 2022, up 13.1% from 2021 and 619% from 2011.
  • Workers in transportation and material-moving occupations experienced 1,620 fatal work injuries in 2022, an increase of 6.4% from 2021; these workers represent the occupational group with the highest number of fatalities
  • Transportation incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal event in 2022 with 2,066 fatal injuries, an increase of 4.2% from 2021; this major category accounted for 37.7% of all work-related fatalities for 2022.
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OSHA training in high schools

  • The OSHA Outreach Program provides teachers with credentials to become OSHA-authorized outreach trainers.
  • The training enables them to provide safety and health education to their students, ensuring that they are prepared
    to navigate the assorted hazards of work.
  • The program offers two types of training for construction trades and general industry  — culinary, cosmetology, auto, technology, and health services — and provides students with basic and more advanced training about common safety and health hazards on the job.
  • High school students in either group receive a minimum of 10 hours and up to 30 hours of invaluable information on their rights to a safe and healthy workplace, as well as effective methods for identifying and preventing exposure to common hazards in their program of study.
  • Students receive an OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour course completion card at the end of the training.
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