Petition Decisions
Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board
Petitions Submitted to the Board for Consideration:
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Board) is the only agency in the State authorized to adopt occupational safety and health standards or orders. The Board is required to hold open public meetings at least monthly and to permit any person to address the Board on any matters of occupational safety or health or to propose new or revised standards. Petitions for standard changes will be evaluated by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The Board will report its decision no later than six months following receipt of a petition.
| Petition File # |
Regarding | Date Submitted | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petition 608 | To amend Title 8 section 5199.1 Aerosol Transmissible Diseases - Zoonotic standard to protect dairy and poultry workers from aerosolized transmissible diseases such as H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) virus. The Petitioner requests: clarification that when there is an overlap between quarantined facilities and facilities with infected animals, the more stringent standards should apply; that it be required that employers keep infected or exposed workers from the workplace until it is safe for them to return to work; provide exclusion pay; provide supplemental paid sick leave; and report any illness or symptom information reported by workers to the local health department, California Department of Public Health and Cal/OSHA. The Petitioner requests both an emergency regulation to protect workers from H5N1 avian influenza and a permanent regulation to protect workers from infectious diseases. | Mar. 20, 2025 | |
| Petition 607 | The Housing Contractors of California, the California Framing Contractors Association and the Residential Contractors Association. Amend Title 8 Section 1716.2 Residential-type Framing Activities, Wood and Light Gage Steel Frame Construction (Residential Fall Protection) to extend the effective date to July 1, 2026, or, alternatively to approve a new proposed addition to Title 8, section 1671.3 establishing a new Fall Protection Plan for interior work in residential framing. The Petitioners state that this request is urgently needed because the recently adopted regulatory changes are less safe than the current standards, especially for interior work, and there are no safe and acceptable options available to framing contractors to properly protect their workers. The Petitioners ask the Board to reverse course and allow the original 1716.2 regulation to continue as the California regulation, to allow them to meet with the new Fed OSHA administration personnel to ask for a written directive rescinding their requirement to abandon the original 1716.2 section. | Mar. 18, 2025 | |
| Petition 606 | To amend Title 8 section 3216 Exit Signs, to allow exit signs the option of utilizing in lieu of or in addition to the word “Exit”, a pictogram of an emergency exit, as specified in ISO Standard 7010 published by the International Organization for Standardization. The Petitioner notes that the internationally standardized pictogram enhances safety by making it easier for occupants to find the exit especially if it’s a building that they’re not familiar with. The Petitioner adds that this would be particularly beneficial in buildings where there may be people who don’t read or understand English. | Aug. 27, 2024 | DENIED |
| Petition 605 | To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), section 3324, Horizontal Sliding Gates, and to consider a new regulation to govern Swinging Gates. The Petition states that serious injuries can occur when a sliding gate fails, comes off its track and falls away from the fence plane. However, existing section 3324 does not prevent the most significant types of sliding gate failures that have cost Californians their lives. Therefore, Petitioners respectfully request that in addition to any amendments deemed necessary; the Board consider amending the regulation to include a list of specific requirements they are proposing and incorporate by reference the following standards: ASTM 1184-16, ASTM F2200-20 and UL 325. Furthermore, the Petitioners request the Board consider adopting a new regulation concerning swinging gates. | May. 16, 2024 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 604 | To amend Title 8 section 3395 Heat Illness Prevention in Outdoor Places of Employment, to require the provision of adequate drink holders securely attached to an aerial device, allow convenient access to potable drinking water and mitigate potential hazards associated with improvised storage methods inside aerial devices. | Mar. 25, 2024 | DENIED |
| Petition 603 | To rescind the COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations (Title 8 sections 3205 through 3205.3), based on new information provided by confirmed scientific studies and federal health authorities. The COVID-19 non-emergency regulations pose an inconvenient, time consuming, costly, and unnecessary burden on employers in the state of California and are no longer necessary. | Mar. 11, 2024 | DENIED |
| Petition 602 | To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), section 3400, Medical Services and First Aid, and Construction Safety Orders (CSO) section 1512, Emergency Medical Services to include a requirement to have opioid overdose reversal medication stocked at job sites and worker administration training. The Petitioner notes that with the number of workplace overdose deaths on the rise, opioid overdose reversal medication is now an essential component of an adequate first-aid kit and that no industry or occupation is immune to this crisis. Including these medications at worksites – either in a first aid kit or elsewhere – and training employees to use it is a critical component of emergency response to help save a life. | Jan. 26, 2024 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 601 | To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), section 5189.1, Process Safety Management (PSM) for Petroleum Refineries. The Petitioner requests to expand the scope of section 5189.1, Process Safety Management (PSM) for Petroleum Refineries, to include refineries that are now processing renewable feedstocks in place of petroleum. The Petitioner notes that physical properties of petroleum crude oil versus renewable fats, oils and greases may be different, but those differences end at the point of delivery to the facility where the feedstock is processed into highly flammable gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and industrial chemicals. Additionally, the Petitioner requests for an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to correct this flaw in Cal/OSHA’s refinery safety regulations after one of their members was critically burned at their refinery from a loss of containment of flammable liquids. | Jan. 17, 2024 | GRANTED in part DENIED in part |
| Petition 600 | Withdrawn | ||
| Petition 599 | To amend Title 8, Article 14. Construction Safety Orders (CSO), sections 1604 Personnel Hoists and 1604.21 Capacity and Loading, to adopt the ANSI 10.4-2016 standards and allow for a modification to Table 4 (section 1604.21) “Relationship of Hoist Rated Capacity to Inside Net Platform Area”, specifically the section “Rated Load” to “Inside Net Platform Area” so that the square feet/area related to the inside net platform can be increased when the hoist car is equipped with an overload detection device and the rated load to inside net platform area is 82psf or higher. | May. 16, 2024 | DENIED |
| Petition 598 | To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), subsections 5006.1(d) and 5006.2(d)(3), regulations associated with re-certification requirements of crane operators. The Petitioner asks Cal/OSHA to consider, through rulemaking or a process outside rulemaking, the requirement that, for recertification [of crane operators], a certificant either (i) retake a “hands-on” practical examination, or (ii) have at least 1,000 hours of documented experience operating “the specific type of crane” for which certification is sought. Additionally, the Petitioner requests that California’s requirements be revised to allow accredited certification bodies to determine the appropriate amount of operating experience necessary to be exempt from the practical examination at the time of recertification and the types of experience that should count towards qualifying for a particular “hands-on” exam exemption. | Jul. 18, 2023 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 597 | To amend title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), section 5204, Occupational Exposures to Respirable Crystalline Silica via an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to address the growing number of reported cases of advanced silicosis among workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica in engineered stone fabrication shops. The Petitioner asks the ETS address the use of engineered stone with a high silica content, the lack of regulated areas, dry fabrication work practices, inadequate respiratory protection, and lack of reporting the use of silica to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) Occupational Carcinogen Control Unit (pursuant to title 8, section 5203). | Mar. 13, 2023 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 596 | To amend Section 3441(b) to permit the use of highly automated and autonomous agricultural equipment. The proposed amendment would allow for the use of driver optional tractors without a human operator stationed at the vehicular controls within a strict set of safety guidelines. | Dec. 20, 2021 | DENIED |
| Petition 594 | To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders, Section 3203(a) to include procedures to implement applicable, published California Department of Public Health (CDPH) guidelines following a declaration of a state of emergency and an executive order directing CDPH to publish workplace guidance to mitigate “aerosol transmissible pathogen” spread in the workplace. | Nov. 8, 2021 | DENIED |
| Petition 593 | To amend Title 8, Petroleum Safety Orders - Refining, Transportation and Handling, Section 6857(c)(1) to incorporate by reference the latest edition of American Petroleum Institute (API) 579, Fitness-for-Service assessment standard. | Aug. 18, 2021 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 590 | To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), Section 5199(h)(3)(A) to repeal or amend the requirement for annual Tuberculosis (TB) testing in health care workers. | May 4, 2021 | DENIED |
| Petition 589 | To amend Title 8, Construction Safety Orders, Article 14, Construction Hoists to conform with ANSI/ASSE A10.4-2016 requirements concerning equipment, responsibilities and safety. | Mar. 15, 2021 | GRANTED |
| Petition 588 | To amend Title 8, CCR, Section 462 of the Unfired Pressure Vessel Safety Orders (UFPVSO), to permit the use of polyethylene (aka HDPE plastic) pipe to convey compressed air in California mines. | Jan. 5, 2021 | GRANTED |
| Petition 587 | To amend Title 8, Construction Safety Orders (CSO), Section 1630 as it pertains to construction personnel hoists (CPH), to expedite amendments proposed by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in their April 3, 2019, Request for New, or Change in Existing, Safety Order (Form 9). Additionally, the Petition asks to address additional CPH issues: the definition of when alternative access is permissible in lieu of a CPH; and a requirement in the permit application for employers to provide empirical data to substantiate the infeasibility of CPH use. | Oct. 15, 2020 | GRANTED |
| Petition 585 | To amend Title 8, Section 1711, to allow the internal guying/bracing of reinforcing steel (rebar) assemblies when the guying/bracing system is designed by a qualified person and to clarify that external guying and bracing of rebar assemblies shall be prohibited. | Jun. 2, 2020 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 584 | To amend Title 8, Section 5189.1, Process Safety Management, Definitions of Major Change, Employee Representative and Participation, Highly hazardous Materials and amendment of the High Hazard Control Analysis hierarchy. | May 22, 2020 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 583 | To amend Title 8 standards to create two new regulations. The first, a temporary emergency standard that would provide specific protections to California employees who may have exposure to COVID-19, but who are not protected by the Aerosol Transmissible Diseases standards (Sections 5199 and 5199.1). The second standard would be a permanent rulemaking effort to protect workers from infectious diseases including novel pathogens (e.g. COVID-19). | May 20, 2020 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 582 | To amend Title 8, Section 1711, to allow the internal guying/bracing of reinforcing steel (rebar) when the guying/bracing system is designed by a qualified person. | May 13, 2020 | WITHDRAWN |
| Petition 581 | To amend Title 8 to ensure the safety and health of rail and transit carrier workers in California against the spread of the COVID-19 virus. | Apr. 23, 2020 | DENIED |
| Petition 579 | To amend various sections of General Industry Safety Orders and Construction Safety Orders to address water damaged building (WDB) mold investigation and remediation methodologies | Jan. 10, 2020 | DENIED |
| Petition 578 | To amend Construction Safety Orders, Section 1710(l), to clarify to employers when the use of barrier planking is required as a means for preventing workers from falling through floor openings during multi story high rise steel erection through use of an exception to subsection (l). | Aug. 5, 2019 | DENIED |
| Petition 577 | To amend Construction Safety Orders, Section 1630(a), Elevators for Hoisting Workers | Jun. 7, 2019 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 576 | To amend General Industry Safety Orders, Section 5193, Bloodborne Pathogens | Apr. 18, 2019 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 575 | To amend General Industry Safety Orders, Section 5357, regarding snow avalanche blasting, to allow remote control deployment of avalanche charges (explosives) | Apr. 17, 2019 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 573 | To amend Title 8 through the addition of Emergency Standards to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke constituents | Dec. 13, 2018 | GRANTED in part |
| Petition 571 | To amend Section 3441(b) to permit the use of highly automated and autonomous agricultural equipment | Nov. 26, 2018 | DENIED |
| Petition 570 | To amend Section 1710 to address definitions and clarify the standard for fall protection for workers in skeleton steel construction | Aug. 8, 2018 | GRANTED |
| Petition 568 | To amend Section 1529 to address workers exposed to naturally occurring asbestos | Dec. 6, 2017 | GRANTED |
| Petition 562 | To allow employee access to the employer's Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) | Jan. 26, 2017 | GRANTED |
| Petition 553 | Fall protection for telecom workers | Dec. 28, 2015 | GRANTED |
| Petition 549 | Brush Chipper safety | Aug. 20, 2015 | GRANTED |
| Petition 519 | Requirements for first aid supplies | Oct. 29, 2010 | GRANTED |
Contact the OSHSB Public Records Officer to request information about archived Petition Decision documentation.
April 2025