Part 11. Commercial Establishments of California Labor Code >> Division 5. >> Part 11.

For purposes of this chapter, "sales floor" means any area where the public is invited to shop, whether indoors or outdoors.

For purposes of this chapter, "working warehouse" means a wholesale or retail establishment in which both of the following occur:
  (a) Heavy machinery, including, but not limited to, forklifts, is used in any area where the public shops while customers are on the premises.
  (b) Merchandise is stored on shelves higher than 12 feet above the sales floor.

(a) The owner, manager, or operator of a working warehouse shall secure merchandise stored on shelves higher than 12 feet above the sales floor. Methods of securing merchandise shall include rails, fencing, netting, security doors, gates, cables, or the binding of items on a pallet into one unit by shrink-wrapping, metal or plastic banding, or by tying items together with a cord.
  (b) All working warehouses shall comply with the provisions of this section on or before July 1, 2002.

(a) When heavy machinery is used to move merchandise from a shelf, there shall be a safety zone established to temporarily block customers from entering areas where merchandise could fall during removal from a shelf.
  (b) All working warehouses shall comply with the provisions of this section on or before July 1, 2002.

An owner, manager, or operator of a working warehouse who employs more than 50 employees shall submit to the division, a report of all known injuries requiring hospitalization, including emergency room medical treatment, or deaths occurring to customers as the result of falling merchandise. The report shall be filed within 30 days of December 31, 2002, and within 30 days of December 31, 2003. Each year, a corporation owning, managing, or operating more than one working warehouse may submit a single report on behalf of all of the corporation's working warehouses in the state, provided that the report identifies the location of the warehouse where each reportable incident occurred.