Cal/OSHA Standards Board approves revisions to the Title 8 lead standards

• After more than two hours of testimony by stakeholders and a more-than 13-year rulemaking effort, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board approved highly controversial revisions to the Title 8 lead standards. It was a 5 to 2 vote. 
• Employer representatives urged the Board to postpone the vote and to send them back to the advisory committee for a “true dialogue” with stakeholders. Employers wanted revisions through the 15-day notice-of-modification process. 
• Bruce Wick, director of risk management for Housing Contractors of California, said the Board could vote on a revised proposal within seven months. Board members Kathleen Crawford and Chris Laszcz-Davis supported him in his effort.  But the employer’s effort failed. 
• “We’re in a bad situation, and it’s already been 13 years,” Board Chair David Thomas said. Public member Joseph Alioto, Jr., added that while he supported small businesses and took their impassioned comments to heart, “The evidence is undeniable” that the lead standards need updating.
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The controversial walk-around rule is now in the final stages

• An OSHA proposed rule on worker walkaround representation is undergoing a final review in the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website.
• The final rule was already sent to the OIRA, but it’s unknown how long the office will take to complete the review, which is one of the final steps in the regulatory process.
• The rule would allow workers to designate someone who doesn’t work for their employer, including a labor union member, to represent them during the walkaround part of an OSHA inspection.
• The regulation also allows an OSHA inspector, also known as a compliance safety and health officer, to make a judgment call on whether a third party can participate in the walkaround.
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OSHA teams up with stadium builders in Nashville

• Workplace safety is getting a high priority with the construction of the new Nissan Stadium on the East Bank of the Cumberland River in Nashville which will employ 19,000 workers.
• With so many individuals needed to complete this project, the Tennessee Builders Alliance (TBA) looked to the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) to devise a plan that would help keep everyone safe and healthy while working to construct the new Nissan Stadium.
• TBA and TOSHA have entered a voluntary partnership that provides consultative services at the construction site when requested by a contractor.
• TOSHA will also monitor the site’s safety and health program and share best practices to prevent workplace accidents.
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Illinois contractor faces more OSHA fines

• An Illinois construction contractor with a history of ignoring federal safety regulations – has again been found exposing workers to deadly fall hazards on a job site in Naperville.
• Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration observed employees of United Custom Homes LLC of Oswego, Illinois, working without protective equipment at heights up to 20 feet on a residential home under construction on Aug. 23, 2023.
• OSHA cited United Custom Homes for one repeat, one willful, one serious and one other-than-serious violations and assessed $264,143 in proposed penalties.
• The agency cited the company for similar violations seven previous times since 2015. United Custom Home currently owes $238,572 in unpaid previous OSHA penalties.
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