Cal/OSHA Enforcement and Defenses - Recent Changes in the Law

Why Should You Attend:

Employers in the state of California are generally aware of the unique challenges posed by Cal/OSHA, which has distinctive standards substantially different from federal OSHA rules, more frequent inspections, more serious citations, and much higher penalties for violations than any other state or federal OSHA.

However, many California employers are not aware of recent changes in Cal/OSHA enforcement.

This webinar will cover the four most significant developments in Cal/OSHA enforcement and defense that will have an impact in 2015: AB 2774 with respect to serious citations, multi-employer citations, Injury and Illness Prevention Program standard as a general duty to prevent accidents, and proposed expedited appeals of unabated violations.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

The following general topics will be covered in this webinar:

• Recent changes in Cal/OSHA enforcement and defenses (2015).
• Criteria for serious violations and changes due to AB 2774.
• Definition of serious physical harm.
• Multi-employer citation liability.
• Avoidance of host employer liability.
• I2P2, or Injury and Illness Prevention Programs.
• I2P2 as a general duty to prevent accidents in California.
• Abatement of citation violations.
• Expedited hearings for unabated citations.

Learning Objectives:

To equip employer personnel with responsibility for OSHA compliance with the most up-to-date information on Cal/OSHA enforcement practices.

Handouts:

The webinar will include examples of forms, documents, photographs, and links to sources of standards and other inspection-related information.

Who Will Benefit:

Participants who will find this webinar particularly useful are

• Senior Management
• Safety professionals
• Safety consultants
• Plant/facility management
• Operations personnel
• HR Managers.
• Insurance loss control advisors

The webinar's content and presentation are directed to non-environmental professionals and lawyers, like managers, facility managers, and others, but safety professionals, consultants, insurance loss control advisors, and attorneys not practicing OSHA law will find tricks of the trade and strategies described in the webinar useful.

James T. Dufour
Founder and Principal, Dufour Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Law

James T. Dufour, MS, JD, CIH is an attorney with a background in environmental management and industrial hygiene and workplace safety with more than 3 decades of experience, including private law practice since 1987 effectively representing clients in federal, California, and other state OSHA appeals and administrative, civil and criminal environmental cases. Recognized as a proficient strategist, his preventive and post-enforcement cost-effective compliance/clean-up plans have been highly regarded by clients, regulators, and judges. (www.dufourlegal.com)

He also has devised corporate regulatory compliance programs in response to new standards and regulations for corporations and trade association membership, including compliance manuals on OSHA and environmental compliance topics published by the California Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups, including the best selling Injury & Illness Prevention Program Compliance Manual (first edition – 54,000 copies), Cal/OSHA Basics and Written Programs, OSHA Compliance in 10 Practical Steps, Proposition 65, and the California Environmental Compliance and Hazardous Waste Handbooks.

James also has instructed thousands of participants in seminars and webinars sponsored by Dufour Seminars & Training, corporate and association clients, and webinar producers since 1986.

Topic Background:

California’s OSHA program presents employers in this state with a more serious challenge compared to employers in other states. Unique standards, more inspections per establishment, and much higher civil penalties (up to 350% in some cases) are the best known differences between the state program and OSHA enforcement in other jurisdictions. However, despite this near-radical approach to workplace safety, there are more changes taking place that will further expand the differences between California and other states. This webinar will address four important topics that will be in effect and complicate Cal/OSHA compliance management:

1. Assembly Bill 2774: This new law changes the definition of a serious violation to eliminate “substantial probability” of causing a serious injury to a “reasonably possibility of physical harm.” It defines physical harm much more broadly than serious injury. This law also changes the way serious citations are issued by establishing a 15-day pre-issuance notice to the employer. The employer may provide exculpatory information in response to the notice, but any admissions or mistakes will be used against it in any appeal proceedings.

2. Multi-Employer Citations: California law has the most liberal policy in the nation for issuing citations to any employer at a multi-employer worksite. So liberal that legal experts call it “multi-employer madness.” Host employers (called controlling employers in the policy) in this state can be liable if they hire a contractor and a contractor employee is injured due to the contractor’s violation, even if the violation is not known or outside of the expertise of the host employer. A number of cases that are moving through the state courts indicate that employers need to know how to protect themselves against “multi-employer madness.”

3. Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2) as a General Duty Clause: To an increasing extent, which will be accelerated by AB 2774, Cal/OSHA interprets its IIPP Standard [8 CCR § 3203] as a general duty to prevent accidents. As a result, employers can receive accident-related serious citations with $18,000-plus penalties for not identifying and controlling hazards, even if the accident were unforeseen or not regulated by an standard. Such citations can be issued even when the employer has established a compliant I2P2 program.

4. Expedited Hearings for Non-Abated Violations: Generally, an appeal of a citation stays its abatement pending the outcome. It has long been a goal of Cal/OSHA to require employers to abate violations as a condition of the appeal, despite criticism about considering the employer guilty before the opportunity to defend itself in the appeal. Nonetheless the move to expedite abatement is moving forward. It is expected that the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board will amend its regulations to expedite hearings of unabated serious citation appeals. This topic will cover abatement issues, proof of abatement, and status of the proposed regulation.

Follow us :