Training and reporting requirements

Safety is about 14% of the Law and Business exam. Many questions are not about hard hats or ladders. They are about paperwork: what must be written, what must be posted, who must be told, and how fast. On the job, these same rules decide whether a Cal/OSHA inspection ends with a clean report or a stack of citations.

Who makes the rules

Cal/OSHA is the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, part of the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). It enforces the safety rules in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations. Two groups of Title 8 rules matter most for contractors. The Construction Safety Orders (sections 1500 and up) cover job sites. The General Industry Safety Orders (for example, section 3203 on safety programs and section 3395 on heat) also apply to construction when a construction rule points to them or when no construction rule covers the hazard.

Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP)

Every employer must set up, use, and keep up an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program, called the IIPP (T8 §1509(a) for construction, which points to §3203). The IIPP must be in writing. It is not a poster. It is the company's working plan for finding and fixing hazards. Size does not matter: a contractor with one employee still needs an IIPP.

Under T8 §3203(a), a written IIPP must include these eight parts:

• Responsible person: the person or persons with the authority and responsibility to run the program.
• Compliance system: how the company makes sure workers follow safe practices, such as recognition, training, retraining, or discipline.
• Communication: a system to talk with workers about safety in a form they understand, including a way to report hazards without fear of reprisal.
• Hazard assessment: procedures to find and evaluate hazards, including scheduled periodic inspections.
• Accident investigation: a procedure to investigate work injuries and illnesses.
• Hazard correction: methods to fix unsafe conditions in a timely way, and right away for imminent hazards.
• Training and instruction for workers and supervisors.
• Employee access: workers can see the written program, and a printed copy must be given within 5 business days when requested.

When inspections and training must happen

Inspections to find hazards must happen when the program is first set up, whenever new substances, processes, procedures, or equipment bring a new hazard, and whenever the employer learns of a new or previously unrecognized hazard. Training must be given (1) when the program is first set up, (2) to all new employees, (3) to employees given a new job assignment they have not been trained for, (4) when new substances, processes, or equipment bring new hazards, and (5) when the employer learns of new or previously unrecognized hazards. Supervisors must also be trained on the hazards their crews face.

Code of Safe Practices

Construction employers must also adopt a written Code of Safe Practices that fits their own operations (T8 §1509(b)). It must contain language equivalent to the relevant parts of Plate A-3 in the Construction Safety Orders appendix. The Code must be posted in a conspicuous place at each job site office, or given to each supervisor, who must keep it readily available (§1509(c)).

When workers are first hired, they must be told about the hazards and safety precautions of their type of work and directed to read the Code of Safe Practices (T8 §1510(a)). Only qualified persons may operate equipment and machinery (§1510(b)). Workers exposed to known job-site hazards, such as flammable liquids, poisons, toxic materials, harmful plants and animals, or confined spaces, must be taught to recognize the hazard, protect themselves, and give first aid if someone is hurt (§1510(c)).

Toolbox or tailgate safety meetings