“The Public Interest” Health/Safety and Environmental Issues

the PASMA way to shared knowledge Public Agency Safety Management Association

October  27th,  2015        

Front Page: Cal/OSHA P & P C-12 Pg. 1 I n d i v id u a l H i gh l i g h t s : Effective Training P&P Continued Pg. 2 OSHA Safety Pays Calculator Pg. 3 Susan Harwood Training Grants Pg. 4

E d i t o r : D i c k M o n o d d e F r o i d e v i l l e , R e t i r e d – C a l / O S H A D m o n o d . pa s m a @ g m a i l . c o m

P A S M A N O R T H & S O U T H C o n t a c t s :

P r e s i d e n t P A S M A S o u t h : P a u l a B o u y o u n e s , R i s k & S a f e t y M g r , O r a n g e C o u n t y W a te r D i s t r i c t , ( 7 1 4 ) 3 7 8 - 3 3 1 0 p b o u y o u n e s @ o c w d . co m V i c e P r e s i d e n t : W e s B a u e r , S & H S u p e r v i s o r R i s k M g t D i v . , O C S a n i t a t i o n D i s t r . w b a u e r @ o c s d . c o m S e c r e t a r y : B r i z a M o r a l e s , R i s k M a n a g e m e n t T e c h , C i t y o f S a n t a A n a ( 7 1 4 ) 4 5 4 - 7 6 0 2 i n f o @ pa s m a o n l i n e . o r g T r e a s u r e r : A n n a L e v i n a , H&SO f f i c e r L A C o u n t y D e p t o f M e n t a l H l th ( 2 1 3 ) 7 3 8 - 4 4 3 0 a l e v i n a @ d m h . l a co u n t y . g o v P A S M A L e g i s l a t i v e A f f a i r s D i r e c t o r : Bill Taylor, C S P S a f e t y M a n a g e r C i t y o f A n a h e i m ( 7 1 4 ) 7 6 5 - 4 3 9 9 b t a y l o r @ a n a h e i m . n e t

P r e s i d e n t P A S M A N o r t h : S t e p he n H a c k e t t , S a f e t y O f f i c e r N a p a C o u n ty ( 7 0 7 ) 2 5 9 - 8 7 4 4 s t e ph e n . h a ck e t t @ c o u n t y o f n a p a . o r g T r e a s u r e r : G w e n H o S i n g - L o y P u b l i c S e r v i c e s O p e r a t i o n s M a n a g e r C i t y o f W a l n u t C r e e k ( 9 2 5 ) 2 5 6 - 3 5 3 6 g h s l @ w a l n u t - c r e e k . o r g S e c r e t a r y & L e g A f f r s : C h a r i t y N i c o l a s A s s i s t a n t R i s k M a n a g e r - L o s s C o n t r o l C o n t r a C o s t a C o u n t y ( 9 2 5 ) 3 3 5 - 1 4 6 3 C h a r i t y . N i c o l a s @ r i s k m . c c c o u n t y . u s M e m b e r s A t L a r g e : B a r b S m a k e r , S a f e t y C o o r d i n a t o r , C o n t r a C o s t a C o u n t y P u b l i c W o r k s

M i k e L a n dy , S r . S a f e t y S p e c . , D e p t . W a t e r R e s o u r c e s S a c r a m e n t o C o u n t y

AB  2774  -­‐  CSHO’s  must  be  both  Competent  and  Credible,  Has  YOUR  CSHO  been  “effectively”  Trained!...(Ed)  

 

Understandably,  each  of  you  reading  this  editorial  will  respond  to  the  issuance  of  a  “serious”  citation  differently  depending  on  your  circumstance  and  situation.    That  response,  however,  should  consider  the  reality  that  todays  Cal/OSHA  is  heavily  slanted  to  the  issuance  of  serious  citations  as  a  result  of  the  2011  changes  to  Labor  Code  Section  1632  (AB  2774).    Compounding  that,  also  consider  the  recent  proposed  changes  affecting  the  issuance  of  “repeat”  citations  based  on  the  organizations’  State-­‐wide  citation  history.    Given  these  two  changes  in  the  regulatory  environment,  it  would  seem  that  defending  any  “serious”  citation  must  now  rest  on  the  veracity  and  credibility  of  each  issuing  Compliance  Safety  and  Health  Officer’s  (CSHO)  education,  experience  and  training  relative  to  “division-­‐mandated”  training  as  identified  in  the  Cal/OSHA  P  &  P  C-­‐12.                  

Effective  January  1,  2011  Section  6432(g)  of  the  Labor  Code  was  amended  to  read:    “A  division  safety  engineer  or  industrial  hygienist  who  can  demonstrate,  at  the  time  of  the  hearing,  that  his  or  her  division-­‐mandated  training  is  current  shall  be  deemed  competent  to  offer  testimony  to  establish  each  element  of  a  serious  violation,  and  may  offer  evidence  on  the  custom  and  practice  of  injury  and  illness  prevention  in  the  workplace  that  is  relevant  to  the  issue  of  whether  the  violation  is  a  serious  violation”.    Breaking  down  the  Code  Speak;  the  term,  “demonstrate”  in  short,  means  to  “prove”.    The  terms  “division-­‐mandated  training”  means  that  the  Division  should  and  has  in  fact,  established  a  subject  specific  curriculum  (see:  https://www.dir.ca.gov/DOSHPol/P&PC-­‐12.pdf  )  that  lists  an  origination  date  of  08/01/1994,  revised  on  both  04/14/2011  (shortly  after  AB2774)  and  again  on  12/22/2014.    I  was  a  Cal/OSHA  compliance  officer  during  the  1994  origination  date,  and  it  essentially  mandated  CSHO’s  receive  an  “Annual  Performance  Review”  where  the  outcome  measures  were  in  fact  “numbers  of  inspection  and  citation”  focused  (quota?).    The  amount  of  “mandated”  training  went  by  the  way  side  so  much  so  that  the  Division  allowed  virtually  every  “work-­‐related”  re-­‐certification  training  to  lapse.    The  net  result  is  that  as  of  December  31,  2012  (my  separation  date),  very  few  CSHO’s  had  code  specified  training  in  Asbestos,  Lead  and/or  Hazwoper.    

CSHO  must  be  both  Competent  and  Credible  –  Cont’d    

The  effect  of  that  decision  means  that,  with  rare  exception,  any  citations  issued  with  respect  to  these  hazards  could  and  should  have  been  successfully  challenged.    Belaboring  the  point  further,  the  quality  of  the  past  as  well  as  the  existing  training,  the  subject  of  much  of  the  latest  Federal  “Annual  Monitoring  and  Evaluation  Reports”  criticism  (https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/efame/california.html)  does  not  include  any  minimum  passing  grade  requirements.        

Meaning  that  as  long  as  the  CSHO  signed  the  daily  roster,  the  CSHO  was  credited  for  having  been  trained.    In  short,  the  historical  training  provided  to  every  CSHO  was  essentially  “death  by  power  point”  that  did  little  for  either  stimulated  critical  thinking  much  less  retention.    Effective  training  should  have  content  and  be  delivered  in  such  a  way  that  thinking  is  translated  into  rational  and  repetitive  action.    Which  begs  the  question  often  charged  in  Cal/OSHA  citations  “the  Division  may  not  have  conducted  “effective”  training.    

Concluding  this  homily  then,  I  hope  every  reader  takes  the  time  to  read  the  new  and  improved  Cal/OSHA  P&P  C-­‐12,  critically  examine  its  content,  and  then  ask  the  simple  question…  “did  my  CSHO  pass  his  training  with  a  minimum  grade  and  exactly  what  will  the  transcripts”  show  as  a  result  of  a  Discovery  request?.    This  should  help  with  the  decision  to  defend,  and/or  to  accept,  any  of  the  serious  citations.    This  issue  is  definitely  tied  to  training  and  competency  particularly  since  AB2774  declared  every  CSHO  an  “expert”  (???)  because  of  that  training.    After  all,  what’s  good  for  the  Goose  should  be  good  for  the  Gooser....        

                                 

Page 2 of 4 “The Public Interest” Public Sector Health/Safety

An  OSHA  Injury/Illness  cost  estimator  –  for  those  senior  managers  and  policy  makers  who  DO  NOT  seem  to  understand  the  value  added  of  the  safety  program.    Remember,  costs  associated  with  an  OSHA  Citation…are  NOT  DEDUCTIBLE.    PAY  NOW  OR  PAY  LATER.                                                                          

“The Public Interest” Public Sector Health/Safety Page 3 of 4

…And  for  those  who  are  in  need  of  training  grants  and/or  materials…SEE  and  INVESTIGATE  the  following.                                                                        

“The Public Interest” Public Sector Health/Safety Page 4 of 4