Although we are a little more than halfway through 2024, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board has already had a jam-packed year. To date, the Board has adopted an Indoor Heat Illness Prevention standard and revisions to the Lead regulations. The Board has also indicated that a slew of new standards and revisions to existing regulations are on the horizon, including:
- “Enterprise-wide” and “egregious” citation classifications for General Industry (Advisory Committee meeting set for August 19, 2024)
- Workplace Violence Prevention Standard for General Industry (draft recently released)
- Permanent Infectious Disease Standard for General Industry
- Updates to the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases Standard in Healthcare
- Cal/OSHA adoption of the fed/OSHA Worker Walkaround Rule
Because of the numerous regulatory actions the Cal/OSHA Standards Board is planning, Conn Maciel Carey’s Cal/OSHA Practice is organizing a flat fee-based, company-anonymous coalition of employers and trade groups to advocate for the most reasonable possible outcomes across numerous Cal/OSHA rulemakings for the remainder of the year, and renewed annually thereafter.
Rather than form separate groups for each of the many rulemakings the Cal/OSHA Standards Board is advancing, this Employers Cal/OSHA Rulemaking Coalition will ensure employers have a voice in the process, an organized approach to advocacy about proposed rules, a channel for regular updates about Cal/OSHA rulemakings, and in-depth analysis about proposed and final standards.
We will coordinate with our coalition participants to:
- Identify the priority rulemakings that the coalition will address
- Keep everyone informed about developments with each priority rulemaking
- Solicit member input about what is feasible, what is not, what may prove most problematic for operations, and what we need to fight hardest to keep out of final rules
- Advocate for your interests through written comments, testimony at Standards Board and Advisory Committee meetings, and other formal or informal engagement with decisionmakers at the agency
- Educate coalition members about the rulemakings and final rules through regular email updates and virtual meetings
If your organization is interested in participating, please contact Rachel Conn, Chair of CMC’s California Practice. Let us know if you have any questions or if you would like to have a call to talk through our plans and strategy for this annual rulemaking coalition, the fee for participating, and the various value-add benefits of participating with our group.
In addition, CMC is hosting a Cal/OSHA and California Employment Law Summit on October 8th and 10th where we will cover these developments in detail. See below for more information and to register.
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Conn Maciel Carey LLP’s Cal/OSHA and California Employment Law Summit is an in-person program presented by the California-based attorneys in CMC’s national OSHA • Workplace Safety and Labor • Employment Practice Groups, to provide updates about the workplace safety and health regulatory landscape in California, as well as important developments in employment and labor law affecting California employers.
- A review of new California occupational safety and health laws and regulations, including indoor heat, lead, and silica.
- A look into Cal/OSHA’s enforcement priorities, and further insight in recent Appeals Board decisions.
- An overview of new California labor and employment laws going into effect in 2025 as well as key decisions from the California courts.
- Fed/OSHA and NLRB updates impacting California, including the Worker Walkaround Rule
- Updates on the implementation of California’s new workplace violence prevention law and Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) reform and tips for compliance.
- What to expect from the Standards Board in 2025, including “enterprise-wide” and “egregious” citation classifications.
Two Dates and Locations to Choose From
Registrants have the opportunity to join the program in Northern California on October 8th, or in Southern California on October 10th. Each day will consist of the program outlined in the agenda below. Continental breakfast, lunch, and program materials will be included with registration at both locations.
Check out the event website for last year’s agenda and other official updates about this year’s program.
This program is currently pending approval for the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) recertification credits. We will also submit the program for California CLE credits.
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