Safety (Cal/OSHA)

The rule

Section 3203 gives four inspection triggers, the program's start, new substances or equipment that create a new hazard, a newly recognized hazard, and scheduled periodic inspections, and the records of those inspections are kept at least one year.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –It applies to every California employer with employees. There is no minimum headcount and no small-business exemption from having a written program.
• –An employer with fewer than 10 employees may elect to keep inspection records only until the hazard is corrected.
• –Training records for an employee who worked under a year need not be kept past the end of employment if the employee is given them on leaving.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –One annual visit by an outside consultant does not satisfy §3203(a)(4). The triggers are events, not a date on the calendar.
• –The inspections your IIPP requires you to run are a different thing from an inspection Cal/OSHA runs on your site.
• –Both the inspection record and the training record are one year, not three.

The rule

No person may discharge or in any manner discriminate against an employee for complaining about safety, and a worker who is retaliated against files with the Labor Commissioner within one year after the violation.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –The complaint is protected whether it went to the Division, to another agency with safety responsibility, or to the employer itself, and whether it was oral or written.
• –The same protection covers testifying in a proceeding, sitting on an occupational health and safety committee, and reporting a work-related injury or illness.
• –An employee discharged or otherwise discriminated against for a bona fide complaint is entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages and work benefits.
• –No employee may be laid off or discharged for refusing work whose performance would violate a safety standard where that violation would create a real and apparent hazard.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –At-will employment does not reach a discharge for a safety complaint. Section 6310 bars it whatever the employment relationship is.
• –The protection does not depend on the complaint being upheld. Section 6310(b) speaks of a bona fide complaint, not a proven one.
• –Retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim is carved out of §6310 and goes to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board under §132a instead.

The rule

A Cal/OSHA inspector who presents credentials has free access to a place of employment during regular working hours and at other reasonable times, and what is found is classified as one of five kinds: regulatory, general, serious, willful or repeat.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –No employer may be given advance warning of an inspection unless the chief authorizes it. Giving unauthorized advance notice is a misdemeanor.
• –If entry is refused, the Division may obtain an inspection warrant. A reported accident, a complaint, or selection under a neutral targeting plan is cause for one.
• –A repeat classification requires a substantially similar requirement, cited within five years of the earlier citation becoming final, and essentially similar conditions or hazards.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –De minimis is a federal OSHA label. California's classes are regulatory, general, serious, willful and repeat.
• –The five-year repeat window runs from the date the earlier citation became final, not from the date of the earlier inspection.
• –Maximum penalty amounts are raised every January 1 by the Consumer Price Index, so a dollar figure copied from an older book is usually low.

The rule

Report a serious injury, serious illness or death to Cal/OSHA immediately, meaning as soon as practically possible and never more than 8 hours after you knew, or with diligent inquiry would have known, of it.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –Serious injury or illness means inpatient hospitalization for other than medical observation or diagnostic testing, an amputation, the loss of an eye, or any serious degree of permanent disfigurement.
• –The report is made by telephone or through the Division's online mechanism; until that mechanism exists, telephone or email is allowed.
• –If the employer can demonstrate that exigent circumstances exist, the report may be made no longer than 24 hours after the incident.
• –An injury or death caused by an accident on a public street or highway is excluded, unless the accident occurred in a construction zone.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –The 8 hours is the outer limit on a duty that reads immediately. It is not a grace period to finish the shift first.
• –The older wording required hospitalization of more than 24 hours. That qualifier is gone, so an admission for treatment counts even if it is short.
• –The 8-hour call to Cal/OSHA and the five-day report to the insurer are two separate filings.

The rule

In general construction California requires approved personal fall protection where work exposes an employee to falling in excess of 7 1/2 feet, which is not the federal 6-foot number.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –Residential-type framing uses 6 feet: fall protection when walking or working on top plates, joists, rafters, trusses or beams 6 feet or more above the level below.
• –Residential-type roofing also uses 6 feet on slopes of 0:12 through 7:12, under a section amended operative July 1, 2025.
• –On residential roof slopes steeper than 7:12, protection is required regardless of height.
• –Roofing operations that are not residential-type fall under §1730, where protection is triggered by a roof height of more than 20 feet.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –6 feet is the federal construction trigger. In California it is the residential framing and residential roofing number, not the general one.
• –7 1/2 feet appears twice: as the personal fall protection trigger in §1670(a) and as the guardrail trigger in §1621(a).
• –A body belt may be worn for fall restraint or in a positioning device system, but not as part of a personal fall arrest system.

The rule

A trench 4 feet or more deep needs a stairway, ladder or ramp within 25 feet of lateral travel, and at 5 feet or more it needs a cave-in protective system unless it is made entirely in stable rock.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –A trench under 5 feet still needs protection if a competent person's examination of the ground shows an indication of a potential cave-in.
• –A competent person inspects the excavation before the start of work, as needed through the shift, and after every rain storm or other hazard-increasing occurrence.
• –A trench five feet or deeper into which a person must descend needs a Cal/OSHA permit before the work starts.
• –The Appendix B slope table covers excavations 20 feet or less in depth. Where the employer does not classify the soil, the fallback slope is 1 1/2:1.

Worked contrast

A slope is written horizontal to vertical, so 1:1 is 45 degrees and a larger first number means a flatter, safer wall.

Common mix-ups

• –The 4-foot number is about getting out. The 5-foot number is about not being buried.
• –1 1/2:1 is Type C, and it is also what you fall back to when the soil has not been classified at all.
• –The permit under Labor Code §6500 applies where a person must descend into the trench, not to every excavation.

The rule

Every hazardous chemical needs a safety data sheet written in the same 16 numbered sections and readily accessible during each work shift, and asbestos, lead and silica each add a standard of their own on top of that.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –The headings run in a fixed order, so First-aid measures is always Section 4 and Other information is always Section 16.
• –Electronic access is acceptable as long as nothing creates a barrier to immediate access in the workplace.
• –For a crew that moves between sites during a shift, the sheets may be kept at a central location if the information can still be obtained immediately in an emergency.
• –Cal/OSHA's construction lead limits were lowered by an amendment operative January 1, 2025.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –30 and 50 micrograms per cubic meter were California's older lead action level and exposure limit. The section now reads 2 and 10.
• –The asbestos class is set by what is being removed, not by how big the job is: thermal system insulation and surfacing material is Class I, other material such as flooring and roofing is Class II.
• –An SDS binder locked in the office trailer does not meet §5194 if the crew cannot reach it during the shift.

The rule

Shade must be present once the outdoor temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit, high-heat procedures start when it equals or exceeds 95 degrees, and water must be enough for one quart per employee per hour for the whole shift.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –High-heat procedures apply to the listed industries: agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials.
• –When the temperature does not exceed 80 degrees, the employer either keeps shade up anyway or gives timely access to shade on request.
• –A preventative cool-down rest is allowed whenever an employee feels the need, and it never ends in less than 5 minutes plus the time needed to reach the shade.
• –In agriculture only, 95 degrees also brings a minimum ten-minute net cool-down rest period every two hours.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –What 95 degrees brings is observation, a pre-shift meeting, water reminders and someone designated to call emergency services. It does not stop the job or cap the day.
• –Shade at 80 degrees and high-heat procedures at 95 degrees are separate duties. The higher number does not replace the lower one.
• –The ten-minute cool-down every two hours at 95 degrees is an agriculture rule, not a construction rule.

The rule

The employer furnishes the required safety devices at no cost to the worker, controls the hazard by engineering means before falling back on protective equipment, and enters a recordable case on the Form 300 log within 7 calendar days.

When it applies — and when it does not

• –Labor Code §6401 puts furnishing safety devices on the employer, and §5144(c)(4) states outright that respirators, training and medical evaluations are at no cost to the employee.
• –Section 5141 requires engineering controls wherever feasible, administrative controls next, and respiratory protection while controls are being installed, where they fall short, and in emergencies.
• –The Form 300A summary is posted no later than February 1 of the following year and stays up until April 30.
• –The Form 300, the 300A and the 301 incident reports are saved for five years following the end of the calendar year they cover.

Worked contrast

Common mix-ups

• –Protective equipment is the last control in the order, not the first. Section 5141 puts engineering controls ahead of it.
• –Seven calendar days is the log entry. Eight hours is the phone call to Cal/OSHA about a serious injury.
• –One year is the IIPP inspection and training record. Five years is the injury and illness log.