Safety (Cal/OSHA)
Workplace safety is a major part of the contractor's legal duty in California, and Cal/OSHA is stricter than federal OSHA in nearly every area. This chapter covers the written safety program every employer must have, the height and depth thresholds that trigger protective measures, hazardous materials, and the strict deadlines for reporting serious injuries.
The Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)
Every employer in California, with no exception for small businesses, must create and maintain a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). The IIPP is the foundation of your safety system and is the document Cal/OSHA asks for first during an inspection. It must name a person responsible for the program, describe how hazards are identified and corrected, explain how workers are trained, and provide a way for employees to report unsafe conditions without fear of being punished.
Cal/OSHA — Role and Jurisdiction
Cal/OSHA, formally the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, enforces workplace safety and health rules throughout California under Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations. It is a state-run program approved by federal OSHA, and in most subjects its standards are stricter than the federal ones; where the two differ, the stricter California rule governs. Cal/OSHA conducts inspections, issues citations and penalties, investigates serious accidents, and can shut down dangerous operations.
Inspections and Violation Classifications
Cal/OSHA inspectors may enter a worksite without advance notice to verify compliance, and an inspection can be triggered by a complaint, an accident, a referral, or a programmed targeting of high-hazard industries. After an inspection, any violations found are classified by seriousness, and the classification drives the size of the penalty. Employers have the right to contest a citation, but the violation and proposed penalty stand unless successfully appealed.
Reporting Serious Injuries, Illnesses, or Death
When a work-related serious injury, serious illness, or death occurs, the employer must report it to the nearest Cal/OSHA district office immediately, and no later than 8 hours after learning of it. A serious injury or illness means an injury requiring inpatient hospitalization (beyond mere observation or diagnostic testing), an amputation, the loss of an eye, or any serious permanent disfigurement. The scene should be left undisturbed except as needed to help the injured or prevent further harm, and failure to report on time is itself a separate violation.
Fall Protection
Falls are the leading cause of death in construction, so Cal/OSHA requires fall protection whenever a worker is exposed to a fall of 6 feet or more to a lower level. Acceptable protection includes standard guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems with a full-body harness and anchored lifeline, and safety nets. The 6-foot trigger applies to general construction including residential work, and certain operations such as work near floor or roof openings and on steep roofs have additional specific requirements.
Excavation and Trenching
Trench collapses are sudden and often fatal because a cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a small car. Any excavation 5 feet or deeper that workers enter must have a protective system against cave-in, achieved by sloping or benching the walls, shoring them, or using a trench shield (trench box). Trenches under 5 feet may still need protection if a competent person finds the soil unstable, and every excavation must be inspected by a competent person daily and after any rainstorm or other condition that increases the hazard.
Scaffolding and Ladders
Scaffolds must be designed, erected, moved, and dismantled under the supervision of a qualified person, and they must be capable of supporting at least four times their maximum intended load. Scaffold platforms generally must be fully planked, and guardrails or fall protection are required on scaffolds more than a set height above the ground. Ladders must be inspected before use, set on stable footing, and a portable ladder used to reach an upper landing should extend about 3 feet above that landing so the worker has a secure handhold.
Permit-Required Confined Spaces
A confined space is large enough to enter but not designed for continuous occupancy and has limited means of entry or exit, such as a tank, vault, manhole, or sewer. It becomes a permit-required confined space if it also contains a hazardous atmosphere, a risk of engulfment, an internal configuration that could trap a worker, or any other serious hazard. Before entry the air must be tested, the space ventilated, an entry permit issued, and an attendant stationed outside; rescuing untrained co-workers who rush in causes many confined-space deaths.
Hazard Communication and Safety Data Sheets
The Hazard Communication standard gives workers the right to know about the chemical hazards they may be exposed to on the job. Employers must keep a current Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for every hazardous chemical, make those sheets readily accessible to employees at all times, label containers properly, and train workers on the hazards. The SDS follows a standardized 16-section GHS format, so workers can always find the same type of information, such as first aid or handling instructions, in the same place.
Heat Illness Prevention
California has one of the nation's strongest heat illness standards because outdoor workers, including many in construction, face real danger from heat. Employers must provide enough fresh, cool drinking water for each worker to drink about 1 quart per hour, and must provide shade that workers can use whenever the temperature reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit or whenever a worker requests it. Workers must be allowed a preventive cool-down rest of at least 5 minutes in the shade when they feel the need, and the employer must have a written heat illness prevention plan and acclimatize new or returning workers to the heat.
Personal Protective Equipment and Recordkeeping
When hazards cannot be eliminated by other means, employers must provide personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection, and respirators, and with few exceptions the employer must pay for required PPE at no cost to the worker. Employers must also keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses on the Cal/OSHA Form 300 log, prepare a year-end summary on Form 300A, and post that summary in the workplace from February 1 through April 30 each year. Many smaller and lower-hazard employers are partially exempt from the routine log requirement.
Hazardous Materials — Asbestos, Lead, and Silica
Some construction materials carry serious long-term health hazards and have their own strict Cal/OSHA rules. Asbestos, found in older insulation, flooring, and roofing, can cause lung disease and cancer, and contractors performing significant asbestos work must be registered with Cal/OSHA. Lead, common in paint in buildings built before 1978, requires special controls under the construction lead standard, and respirable crystalline silica dust from cutting concrete, masonry, or stone can cause silicosis, so employers must control the dust with water or ventilation and follow an exposure control plan.