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A Safe Dress Code Policy for Employers Dress codes aren't always about looking appropriate--sometimes they're necessary to ensure the safety of workers and others. This month's Online Exclusive is a sample Safe Dress Code Policy . . . more » Bucket Truck Safety Policy Companies whose workers operate aerial platform/bucket trucks should have a policy regarding truck safety and safe work practices. This sample policy can be adapted to suit specific industries or applications. . . . more » Compliance Checklist: Lockout/Tagout Employers whose lockout/tagout programs are incomplete risk serious injuries to workers, and steep fines from DOSH. Use this checklist to make sure that the basic elements of your lockout/tagout program are in place. . . . more » Infection Control Checklist Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms are becoming increasingly common. In part, this is due to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which tends to breed resistant strains. Another factor is the spread of these organisms from the immunocompromised populations where they first . . . more » Electrical Safety: Arc Flash Protection and Compliance with NFPA 70E Audio Conference Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Nothing causes more confusion and stirs more debate than understanding regulatory compliance with regard to electrical hazards. What does OSHA require? Is arc flash personal protective equipment (PPE) required by law? Should you follow the NFPA standard 70E, or is something additional required? . . . more » More

Toxic Mold: Preventing Mold-Related Problems in Indoor Workplaces; Guidance from Federal OSHA and California California was the first state in the nation to pass a law addressing the hazards of toxic mold in buildings: the Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001. This act required the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to present a study to the legislature evaluating . . . more » Roofing Safety: A Review of Cal/OSHA's Requirements; Prevent Slips, Falls, Serious Injuries, and Deaths Workers on roofs are at risk for serious injuries and death from falls. Not only do they perform their jobs at substantial heights, but they may also be working on surfaces that are . . . more » Best Practices: Federal OSHA's Fundamentals of a Workplace First Aid Program; Are You Ready to Respond to Medical Emergencies? Employers in California are required to ensure that medical treatment is readily available to sick or injured workers under General Industry Safety Order Section 3400, Medical Services and First Aid. . . . more » Sign up for a trial and access more articles like these

Bulletin: ERI wins 11th editorial award The Employer Resource Institute, publisher of Cal/OSHA Compliance Advisor and California Employer Advisor, has just won a second-place award from the Specialized Information Publishers Foundation in the category of "Best Instructional Reporting." The award, ERI's 11th, was given to our Special Report, . . . more » Bulletin: Time running out to save on California Employment Law Update conference The clock is ticking on the fourth-annual California Employment Law Update conference in San Francisco from Nov. 4-6. Register now and save $100--but hurry! This discount expires . . . more » Bulletin: From the HR files: Grocery employee wins $2.4 million in harassment suit What does an employer have to do to get hit with an $18.4 million jury award? Not as much as you might think. The amount awarded to James Stevens, a Vons Grocery Stores employee, was later reduced on appeal to $2.4 million. But even the reduced amount constitutes 2.4 million reasons for every California employer to learn from this employer's mistakes . . . more » Workers' Compensation: Why Everyone's Talking About the Almaraz/Guzman Decision; What It Means for You Mario Almaraz, a truck driver for Environmental Recovery Services in Gardena, was pulling a tarp over the back of his truck on Nov. 5, 2004, when he injured his back. Joyce Guzman, a secretary with the Milpitas Unified School District, was diagnosed with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome on April 11, 2005. Both workers were found to be . . . more » Swine Flu: It Fizzled in the Spring … or Did It? First, some perspective: seasonal influenza sickens 3 to 5 million people throughout the world each year, causing from 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. Compared to those figures, the new H1N1 strain of flu (commonly called "swine flu"), which has caused about 30,000 confirmed cases and only about 145 deaths worldwide . . . more » Trainer's Handbook: Safety in the Trenches; Teach Workers to Dig Safely There are a lot of ways to die in a trench. If your work involves trenching or sending workers into trenches, make sure they know the hazards they face and how to stay safe . . . more » Fall Protection: Will Your Anchor Hold? Fall Protection Expert Weighs In Once upon a time, workers didn't like to wear fall protection harnesses. They're hot, uncomfortable, cumbersome, difficult to use, and create their own problems. In short, "Why do I have to wear this thing?" was a common question. But it was once the same story with . . . more » Health & Wellness: It Came from the Office Fridge! Don't Let Bad Food Become a Hazard to Workers Somebody had to do it. The office mini-fridge at an AT&T call center in downtown San Jose needed cleaning out. An enterprising employee--who had no sense of smell because she'd had nasal surgery--took on the task. On May 13, she moved the rotten food from the fridge . . . more » Hazardous Chemicals: OSHSB Considering Revisions to Refractory Ceramic Fiber Exposure Limits; Who's Exposed and What Employers Can Do At its meeting in March, the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) heard public comments on its hotly debated proposal to impose a permissible exposure limit (PEL) . . . more » News Note: Agency Issues New Fatality Fact Sheet Following Car Wash Death The California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program has written a fact sheet about the death of a car wash attendant. The victim died when the hose he was holding . . . more » News Note: Agency Issues Rollover Warning for 15-Passenger Van Users The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging all 15-passenger van users to take appropriate precautions to guard against the possibility of a tragic . . . more » News Note: Federal Railroad Administration Increases Rail Workers' Rest Periods As of July 16, train employees' minimum off-duty period will increase to 10 consecutive hours (from the current eight-hour minimum) during the prior 24-hour period, and they will be able to work no more than . . . more » News Note: New Resources Available from Federal OSHA Two new booklets, Controlling Silica Exposures in Construction and OSHA's Small Business Guide for Ethylene Oxide, and one new Quick Card, "Pneumatic Nail Gun Safety Tips" are now available . . . more » News Note: New Training Practices Standard Approved The American Society of Safety Engineers has approved the newly revised American National Standard ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2009 Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training. The standard calls for qualified training . . . more » Bulletin: Time to prepare for a pandemic Thankfully, the recent H1N1 flu virus (swine flu) outbreak wasn't the global pandemic that experts feared, but some are saying it's not over yet. It's a good idea to use this summer . . . more » Bulletin: From the HR files: All about exit interviews If you find yourself constantly wondering why employees aren't staying with you longer, you're not alone. Employee retention issues can be hard to pin down--after all, employees leave for a variety of reasons, many of which you may have no control over. . . . more » Safety Management: Tight Budget? Don't Slack Off on Safety; Tips for Success Hiring freezes and layoffs. Reduced bonuses and work hours. Mandates to cut budgets by a certain percentage across the board, by whatever means necessary. . . . more » International Regulation: European Chemical Agency's New Rule May REACH You, Too Just when you were starting to relax about the implications and implementation of the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Hazardous Chemicals, along comes a new chemical hazard standard: the European Union's REACH . . . more » Trainer's Handbook: Clothes Make the Worker And Make the Worker Safe All workplaces have dress codes, and all dress codes have a purpose. Workers may be required to wear certain clothes to identify them as representatives of their employer, as when meter-readers wear the insignia of their utility company so that homeowners don't mistake them for trespassers. They may be required to wear clothes that protect the products that they work with, as when clean-room workers wear shoe covers, or cooks wear hairnets. They may also be required to wear specific clothing or observe dress restrictions for safety reasons related to their jobs. . . . more » Appeals Board Decisions: Careful Employer Nailed for Careless Asbestos Removal; Advice for Employers Renovating Buildings During renovation of an eight-story commercial building in San Francisco, Cannon Constructors diligently tested potential asbestos-containing materials. Even after renovations began, Cannon tested newly discovered . . . more » Nanotechnology: New Guidance from NIOSH Helps Employers Develop Surveillance and Screening Programs for Exposed Workers Here's a surprising fact: When you take an ordinary substance (say, for example, carbon), break it down into individual molecules, and rebuild it into an extremely tiny tube-link structure (constructed of carbon rings and called a "bucky tube"), its chemical behavior is entirely different from the same substance in a larger form (such as a lump of carbon in the form of charcoal). . . . more » Workers' Compensation: DWC Launches 'Bring 'Em Back' Campaign; Use It or Lose It A lot of things have to happen after a worker is injured on the job--the person has to receive appropriate care, a workers' compensation claim must be filed, any damage to your workplace must be repaired, and the hazard that caused the injury must be addressed. If the injury was serious, you may also have to notify . . . more » News Note: Division of Workers' Compensation Revisions in Effect Now The Division of Workers' Compensation's (DWC's) revised regulations updating audit procedures and the administrative penalty schedule became effective on May 20. Revisions regarding claim file contents will become effective . . . more » News Note: Finalized 2007 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) Reveals More Deaths The final count of fatal work injuries in the United States in 2007 was 5,657, up from the preliminary count of 5,488, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . . . more » News Note: Federal OSHA Updates Hospitals and Powered Industrial Trucks eTools, Creates Topic Page on Combustible Dust Federal OSHA has recently updated its hospital and powered industrial truck eTools and created a . . . more » News Note: Study Gives Breakdown of Injuries, Fatalities Occurring Off Public Roads The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has completed an assessment of injuries and fatalities involving motor vehicles not in traffic. The new study concluded that more than 1,700 fatalities and more than 840,000 injuries annually can be attributed . . . more » News Note: NIOSH Publication Recommends No-Nose Bicycle Saddles A new National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) publication recommends using no-nose, or noseless, bicycle saddles to prevent genital numbness and sexual dysfunction in workers who ride bicycles . . . more » Small Equipment Inspection Checklist It may be that you have an inspection checklist for each piece of equipment in your facility--then again, there's probably something that didn't come with a checklist of its own. . . . more » Bulletin: OSHA fast-tracks regulation of diacetyl Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis has taken steps intended to fast-track regulation of occupational exposure to food flavorings containing the chemical diacetyl. The action, withdrawal of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), could take as much as 2 years off . . . more » Bulletin: Americans consume too much salt, CDC says Two out of three Americans are in population groups that should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams (mg) of salt per day, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to a new CDC study, the estimated average . . . more » More