FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IR #2009-20
June 10, 2009
CONTACT:
Dean Fryer
(415) 703-5050
Internet: www.dir.ca.gov
Cal/OSHA seeks adoption of emergency amendments to the
heat illness prevention standard
Sacramento—The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) in
conjunction with its Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as
Cal/OSHA, has requested that the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board
(OSHSB) adopt emergency amendments to the current heat illness prevention
standard, section 3395 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations.
“We are now in our fourth year of enforcing this standard, which was enacted
to protect outdoor employees from the hazard of heat illness,” said DIR Director
John C. Duncan. “We have found from our enforcement activities that there is a
need for the standard to be clarified so that more employers will comply fully
and effectively with its provisions.”
Cal/OSHA enforcement statistics collected from the brief periods of hot
weather experienced in the state this year have demonstrated that substantive
changes to clarify the regulation are necessary to ensure that employers have
the guidance they need to protect employees working outdoors from exposure to
heat.
Public awareness of the heat illness prevention regulations has increased as
a result of education and outreach efforts by Cal/OSHA in partnership with
labor, industry and community partners. However, Cal/OSHA is requesting that the
OSHSB adopt the emergency amendments to the standard in order to bring more
specificity and enforceability to the standard.
The proposed amendment will:
-
clarify the provisions that govern when and how to provide shade, drinking
water and employee training,
-
add tiered procedures to be followed when temperatures are above 85 and 95
degrees Fahrenheit,
-
add related requirements to implement feasible and effective measures for
the protection of employees working outdoors, and
-
eliminate the definition of “preventative recovery period.”
“Although most employers of outdoor worksites are now on board with the need
to provide safeguards to their workers, some employers still fail to comply,”
said Cal/OSHA Chief Len Welsh. “Last month in a two week period we required
eight employers to cease their operations because their failure to provide the
most basic protection to their workers from heat far in excess of 90 degrees
exposed them to an imminent hazard.”
A public hearing to discuss the proposed amendment to the heat illness
prevention regulation, Section 3395 of the Title 8 California Code of
Regulations has been scheduled by the OSHSB to take place at their next meeting
on June 18 in Oakland.
If the emergency amendments are adopted, they will be sent to the State
Office of Administrative Law for approval and then to the Secretary of State for
filing. A 120 day standard rulemaking process will follow to develop permanent
amendments to the heat illness prevention regulations.
In July 2006, the heat illness prevention regulation became permanent, making
California the first state in the nation to adopt a comprehensive heat illness
prevention standard for outdoor workers.
For more information on OSHSB’s public meeting details and agenda, visit the
OSHSB Web site at http://www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/agendaJune09.html
For more information on heat illness prevention and training materials, visit
the Cal/OSHA Web site at www.dir.ca.gov/heatillness.
Employees with work-related questions or complaints, including heat illness,
may call the California Workers’ Information Hotline at 1-866-924-9757.
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