Chapter 9. Miscellaneous Safety Provisions of California Labor Code >> Division 5. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 9.

(a) Any employer who causes or allows the use of any flammable or combustible material for the installation acceptance pressure test of any gas houseline or piping shall be conclusively presumed to be maintaining an unsafe place of employment.
  (b) Any employer who causes or allows gas pipelines to be tested with gas at pressures in excess of that permitted by applicable sections of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Code for Pressure Piping shall be conclusively presumed to be maintaining an unsafe place of employment.

It shall be the duty of the standards board to determine by the maximum allowable standards of emissions of contaminants from portable and from mobile internal combustion engines used inside factories, manufacturing plants, warehouses, buildings and other enclosed structures, which standards are compatible with the safety and health of employees.

All portable and all mobile internal combustion engines that are used inside factories, manufacturing plants, warehouses, buildings and other enclosed structures shall be equipped with a certified exhaust purifier device after the certification of the device by the State Air Resources Board. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health shall be responsible for the enforcement of the provisions of this section.

Sections 6701 and 6702 shall apply to all portable and all mobile internal combustion engines used inside factories, manufacturing plants, warehouses, buildings and other enclosed structures unless the operation of such an engine used inside a particular factory, plant, warehouse, building or enclosed structure does not result in harmful exposure to concentrations of dangerous gases or fumes in excess of maximum acceptable concentrations as determined by the standards board.

All crawler and wheel cranes with cable-controlled booms and with rated lifting capacity of more than 10 tons sold or operated in this state shall be equipped with boomstops that meet standards that shall be established therefor by the standards board.

No contract for public works involving an estimated expenditure in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), for the excavation of any trench or trenches five feet or more in depth, shall be awarded unless it contains a clause requiring submission by the contractor and acceptance by the awarding body or by a registered civil or structural engineer, employed by the awarding body, to whom authority to accept has been delegated, in advance of excavation, of a detailed plan showing the design of shoring, bracing, sloping, or other provisions to be made for worker protection from the hazard of caving ground during the excavation of such trench or trenches. If such plan varies from the shoring system standards, the plan shall be prepared by a registered civil or structural engineer. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to allow the use of a shoring, sloping, or protective system less effective than that required by the Construction Safety Orders. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose tort liability on the awarding body or any of its employees. The terms "public works" and "awarding body", as used in this section, shall have the same meaning as in Sections 1720 and 1722, respectively, of the Labor Code.

Regulations of the department requiring the shoring, bracing, or sloping of excavations, or which contain similar requirements for excavations, shall only apply to the excavation of swimming pools where a reasonable examination by a qualified person reveals recognizable conditions which would expose employees to injury from possible moving ground. If these conditions are found to exist with respect to a swimming pool excavation, employees shall not be permitted to enter the excavation until the condition is abated or otherwise no longer exists.

For the purposes of subdivision (a) of Section 6500, only one permit shall be required for a project involving several trenches or excavations. The provisions of Section 6500 shall not apply to the construction of trenches or excavations for the purpose of performing emergency repair work to underground facilities, or the construction of swimming pools, or the construction of "graves" as defined in Section 7014 of the Health and Safety Code or to the construction or final use of excavations or trenches where the construction or final use does not require a person to descend into the excavations or trenches.

Whenever the state, a county, city and county, or city issues a call for bids for the construction of a pipeline, sewer, sewage disposal system, boring and jacking pits, or similar trenches or open excavations, which are five feet or deeper, such call shall specify that each bid submitted in response thereto shall contain, as a bid item, adequate sheeting, shoring, and bracing, or equivalent method, for the protection of life or limb, which shall conform to applicable safety orders. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose tort liability on the body awarding the contract or any of its employees. This section shall not apply to contracts awarded pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 14250) of Part 5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

Every contractor on a construction project, including but not limited to any public works, shall maintain adequate emergency first aid treatment for his employees. As used in this section, "adequate" shall be construed to mean sufficient to comply with the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-596).

(a) At every place of employment where explosives are used in the course of employment, there shall be a person licensed pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 7990) of Part 9 of Division 5, to supervise and visually direct the blasting operation.
  (b) For the purposes of this section, "explosives" shall include, but not be limited to, class A and B explosives, blasting caps, detonating cord, and charges or projectiles used in the control of avalanches. For the purposes of this section, "explosives" shall not include small arms ammunition or class C explosives such as explosive powerpacks in the form of explosive cartridges or explosive-charged construction devices, explosive rivets, bolts, and charges for driving pins and studs, and cartridges for explosive-actuated power devices.
  (c) This section shall not apply to persons, firms, or corporations licensed pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 12500) of Division 11 of the Health and Safety Code.

(a) The division shall develop and administer an oral and written examination for persons using explosives, as defined in Section 6710, while engaged in snow avalanche blasting. Any person engaged in snow avalanche blasting shall pass this examination prior to being licensed by the division.
  (b) The division shall select an advisory committee to assist the division in preparing the data and information for the written and oral qualifying examination. The advisory committee shall consist of not less than seven members, nor more than nine members, with at least one representative from explosives manufacturers, snow avalanche blasting consultants, the recreational snow ski industry, a public recreation area, the California Department of Transportation, and the division.

(a) The standards board shall, no later than December 1, 1991, adopt an occupational safety and health standard for field sanitation. The standard shall comply with all of the following:
  (1) The standard shall be at least as effective as the federal field sanitation standard contained in Section 1928.110 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
  (2) The standard shall be at least as effective as California field sanitation requirements in effect as of July 1, 1990, pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 113310) of Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, Article 1 (commencing with Section 118375) of Chapter 1 of Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, and Section 2441 of this code.
  (3) The standard shall apply to all agricultural places of employment.
  (4) The standard shall require that toilets are serviced and maintained in a clean, sanitary condition and kept in good repair at all times, including written records of that service and maintenance.
  (b) Consistent with its mandatory investigation and reinspection duties under Sections 6309, 6313, and 6320, the division shall develop and implement a special emphasis program for enforcement of the standard for at least two years following its adoption. Not later than March 15, 1995, the division shall also develop a written plan to coordinate its enforcement program with other state and local agencies. The division shall be the lead enforcement agency. Other state and local agencies shall cooperate with the division in the development and implementation of the plan. The division shall report to the Legislature, not later than January 1, 1994, on its enforcement program. The plan shall provide for coordination between the division and local officials in counties where the field sanitation facilities required by the standard adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) are registered by the county health officer or other appropriate official of the county where the facilities are located. The division shall establish guidelines to assist counties that choose to register sanitation facilities pursuant to this section, for developing service charges, fees, or assessments to defray the costs of registering the facilities, taking into consideration the differences between small and large employers.
  (c) (1) Past violations by a fixed-site or nonfixed-site employer, occurring anywhere in the state within the previous five years, of one or more field sanitation regulations established pursuant to this section, or of Section 1928.110 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, shall be considered for purposes of establishing whether a current violation is a repeat violation under Section 6429.
  (2) Past violations by a fixed-site or nonfixed-site employer, occurring anywhere in the state within the previous five years, of one or more field sanitation regulations established pursuant to this section, Article 4 (commencing with Section 113310) of Chapter 11 of Part 6 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, Article 1 (commencing with Section 118375) of Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, or Section 2441 of this code, or of Section 1928.110 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, shall constitute evidence of willfulness for purposes of Section 6429.
  (d) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 6317 and 6434, any employer who fails to provide the facilities required by the field sanitation standard shall be assessed a civil penalty under the appropriate provisions of Sections 6427 to 6430, inclusive, except that in no case shall the penalty be less than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) for each violation.
  (2) Abatement periods fixed by the division pursuant to Section 6317 for violations shall be limited to one working day. However, the division may, pursuant to Section 6319.5, modify the period in cases where a good faith effort to comply with the abatement requirement is shown. The filing of an appeal with the appeals board pursuant to Sections 6319 and 6600 shall not stay the abatement period.
  (3) An employer cited pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subdivision shall be required to annually complete a field sanitation compliance form which shall list the estimated peak number of employees, the toilets, washing, and drinking water facilities to be provided by the employer, any rental and maintenance agreements, and any other information considered relevant by the division for a period of five years following the citation. The employer shall be required to annually submit the completed form, subscribed under penalty of perjury, to the division, or to an agency designated by the division.
  (e) The division shall notify the State Department of Health Services and the appropriate local health officers whenever a violation of the standard adopted pursuant to this section may result in the adulteration of food with harmful bacteria or other deleterious substances within the meaning of Article 5 (commencing with Section 110545) of Chapter 5 of Part 5 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code.
  (f) Pending final adoption and approval of the standard required by subdivision (a), the division may enforce the field sanitation standards prescribed by Section 1928.110 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, except subdivision (a) of Section 1928.110, in the same manner as other standards contained in this division.

For the purposes of this division, "lead-related construction work" means any of the following:
  (a) Any construction, alteration, painting, demolition, salvage, renovation, repair, or maintenance of any building or structure, including preparation and cleanup, that, by using or disturbing lead-containing material or soil, may result in significant exposure of employees to lead as determined by the standard adopted pursuant to Section 6717.
  (b) The transportation, disposal, storage, or containment of materials containing lead on site or at a location at which construction activities are performed. "Lead-related construction work" does not include any activity related to the manufacture or mining of lead or the installation or repair of automotive materials containing lead.

(a) On or before February 1, 1994, the division shall propose to the standards board for its review and adoption, a standard that protects the health and safety of employees who engage in lead-related construction work and meets all requirements imposed by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The standards board shall adopt the standard on or before December 31, 1994. The standard shall at least prescribe protective measures appropriate to the work activity and the lead content of materials to be disturbed by the activity, and shall include requirements and specifications pertaining to the following:
  (1) Sampling and analysis of surface coatings and other materials that may contain significant amounts of lead.
  (2) Concentrations and amounts of lead in surface coatings and other materials that may constitute a health hazard to employees engaged in lead-related construction work.
  (3) Engineering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment, including respiratory protection, fit-testing requirements, and protective clothing and equipment.
  (4) Washing and showering facilities.
  (5) Medical surveillance and medical removal protection.
  (6) Establishment of regulated areas and appropriate posting and warning requirements.
  (7) Recordkeeping.
  (8) Training of employees engaged in lead-related construction work and their supervisors, that shall consist of current certification as required by regulations adopted under subdivision (c) of Section 105250 of the Health and Safety Code and include training with respect to at least the following:
  (A) Health effects of lead exposure, including symptoms of overexposure.
  (B) The construction activities, methods, processes, and materials that can result in lead exposure.
  (C) The requirements of the lead standard promulgated pursuant to this section.
  (D) Appropriate engineering controls, work practices, and personal protection for lead-related work.
  (E) The necessity for fit-testing for respirator use and how fit-testing is conducted.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any test procedures adopted by a state agency to determine compliance with vapor emission standards, by vapor recovery systems of cargo tanks on tank vehicles used to transport gasoline, shall not require any person to climb upon the cargo tank during loading operations.

The Legislature reaffirms its concern over the prevalence of repetitive motion injuries in the workplace and reaffirms the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board's continuing duty to carry out Section 6357.