If this is accurate & true then eliminating OSHA itself is disaster after disaster in the making!
Don't get me wrong - OSHA is very overkill in many ways - but without OSHA all healthwise regulations will be at risk of being dropped!
@corlin I was a volunteer fire fighter - and can tell you some of the regulations they had back in the day were serious overkill
and now as a warehouse worker, they uphold certain regulations but overlook others more often than not, and it's the things they overlook which are the problem...
Ok this I believe, in many states local OHSA is underfunded by a lot.
Here in Oregon it works well.
See how I got that job.
@corlin I've had to deal directly with OSHA when I was fire prevention officer in the fd back home - there were less regulations back in the day compared to today - we had to go thru special training for the hazmat squad - of which most of those regulations have been scrapped/replaced now...
@corlin none of which are bad, but not properly regulated as it is - more bark than bite - now enter Project 2025 - everything OSHA stands for is at risk - smoking indoors included - it's gonna be ugly if it happens...
@duglop
Yep.
Many dead and maimed workers.
Many many many.
@corlin I was specifically told by the CAL OSHA District Manager during a dispute conference that they they had one mechanism in their mandate: Issue Citations with fines.
We were issued 4 citations from a site walk 2 days prior to the deadline of 6 months from the date of the walk. All of the cited issues were addressed immediately on site except for a scratched sticker on a piece of equipment (replaced the next day and documented to the inspector). 1/2
@duglop
@corlin After the notification of the citations, I disputed one that was classified as "Serious". On a concrete deck (poured by others) there were protruding 5/8" allthread to be used to tie down structural framing. 2 or 3 out of 100 did not have protective covers over them. They protruded 3" above the concrete. The inspector determined them to be a Serious Hazard of impalement. (Fucking ridiculous) We appealed and got it reduced to a general citation. @duglop 2/2+
@corlin CAL OSHA doesn't do "consultations" or "warnings" they issue citations and fines 6 months after supposedly serious (reasonably expected to cause serious harm or death) violations are noted by their inspectors. At the time of the citations in this case, there were representatives from several local and state housing authorities at the same site, on the same deck, at the same time as our workers. Were those entities cited? CAL OSHA declined to comment when I asked. Total BS. @duglop
@corlin Having said all of that: I 100% support OSHA's purpose: To ensure a safe environment for workers and ensure that mandated practices are being followed. I feel exactly the same way in looking out for my people that are doing the work in the field, just as I did for decades. I believe that they should be allowed a more nuanced approach. @duglop
Understood.
That does sound extreme, and a failure on CalOSHA’s part. I was only ever small fry in OreOSHA, a field on-site inspector.
All the other inspectors I knew, in the building trades, came from the trades they oversaw. They knew who the bad guys were, and never hassled the guys just trying to get a job done.
It is a paperwork heavy job, and these folks hated paperwork, So a couple of words with the site supervisor, or the general, swing by the next day.
@Ironworker229 @corlin yeah this is kind of what I was alluding to when I originally said a lot of times it's overkill... Another thing is a lot of companies do the hurry up and fake it routine before an OSHA inspection, and then the inspector will find something that wasn't addressed but also was very very minimal, sometimes it would result in a fine and sometimes it would result in a general citation..
@Ironworker229 @corlin And then said company would once again fall back into old habits... If OSHA actually made more surprise inspections a lot of places would be heavily fined or cited, possibly even shut down depending on the severity I've been employed in places that were real bad safety-wise
@Ironworker229 @corlin oh yeah and this made me laugh one day and OSHA inspector came right out and told us it really depends on the mood of the inspector as to how severe an inspection can be. We thought he was bullshitting and he looked right at us and said he was dead serious...
@Ironworker229 @corlin there's many parts of it that I'm concerned about but one thing I really am concerned about is allowing smoking in the workplace... I just don't even like the sound of that but it is a very real possibility... I quit smoking for a reason I don't want to potentially put myself in subjected harm's way at work trying to make a living
@duglop I think it is possible to believe in the idea that we should have a department of safety that oversees workplace protections and good practice, but also think that the agency we have is badly legislated and shittily run.
OSHA refused to cite a friends's employer who hooked up the building steam heat to the sink and gave him a 3rd degree burn. Why? Because they had rules about sink water temp, and rules about steam heat temp, but no rule for not hooking up steam heat to the sink.
@duglop
Hmmm,
🤔
Having worked for a while for OregonOSHA, I found in no way did it overstep its mandate, or enforce unwarranted regulation. I found them over all, willing to talk, train, and work with private companies. Especially small local businesses that did not have the capital to run a training program. Now if you fragrantly broke the rules knowingly, yes they would come down hard on your ass.