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!
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.
@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
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.
@corlin It sounds like your state had/has a much more workable system in place, likely leading to better outcomes! @duglop