Occupational safety and health: citation outcome analysis.

Existing law, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, establishes enforcement procedures for the requirements related to safe and healthful working conditions for Californians. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Department of Industrial Relations is charged with enforcing occupational health and safety laws, orders, and standards, including the investigation of alleged violations of those provisions.Existing law requires the division, when it decides that a place of employment, machine, device, apparatus, or equipment constitutes an imminent hazard to employees, to prohibit entry to the workplace or use of the machine, device, apparatus, or equipment.This bill would specify that a place of employment may be deemed dangerous because a particular machine, device, apparatus, or piece of equipment, as well as a condition or practice in a place of employment, constitutes an imminent hazard to employees. Existing law requires the Director of Industrial Relations to prepare and submit to the Legislature, not later than March 1, an annual report on the activities of the division, including, among other components, the total inspections made and citations issued; the number of civil penalties assessed, total amount of fines collected, and the number of appeals heard; and information contained in a specified report prepared by the Bureau of Investigations of the division. This bill would require the division to collaborate with the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board of the department to prepare an annual report analyzing the outcomes of citations and other notifications to employers appealed by those employers to the board by employers during the immediately prior calendar year. The division would be required to present the written report, not later than March 1 of each year, to the Speaker of the Assembly and the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Rules for assignment to the appropriate committee or committees for evaluation.