• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
 
ARCADIA: Stronger Settlement Partnerships. Innovative Solutions.

Amaxx Workers Comp Blog

Reduce Workers Compensation Costs By 20-50%

Header Right

  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Search
    • Free Resources & Solutions
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Create Free Training Center Account
    • Enroll in On-Demand Courses
    • Activate WC Mastery Membership
    • Request Strategic Coaching Session
    • Buy WC Guidebooks
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
    • Coaching
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login

Mobile Menu

  • Home
    • Training Center
  • Search
    • Free Resources & Solutions
    • Subscribe to Free Newsletter
    • Create Free Training Center Account
    • Enroll in On-Demand Courses
    • Activate WC Mastery Membership
    • Request Strategic Coaching Session
    • Buy WC Guidebooks
  • Membership
    • Insider (free account)
    • WC Mastery
    • Teams & Managers Mastery
    • Training Partners
  • Products
    • On-Demand Courses
    • Specialty Courses
    • Certifications & Mastery Courses
    • Ultimate Guidebooks
    • Coaching
  • Blog
    • Video Blogs
    • COVID-19 / Coronavirus Pandemic
  • Login
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
You are here: Home / California Workers Comp / California Workers Compensation and OSHA Issues

California Workers Compensation and OSHA Issues

June 25, 2009 By //  by Robert Elliott, J.D. Leave a Comment

Number of CAL OSHA Inspectors Speak Out on Board Policies

Forty-Seven CAL OSHA field inspectors, senior and district managers have written a letter of complaint to members of the California OSHA Appeals Board protesting “Board policies and practices significantly undermining our ability to do our job of protecting the lives, health and safety of California’s workers.”

The letter alleges the Appeals Board has for over a four-year period followed a deliberate policy of scheduling hearings in such a way as to make it is impossible for inspectors to do their job properly:

“[T]he Board has deliberately over-booked hearing days so that a single judge in the same location and the same time has as many as three or four hearings scheduled. The Board has continued to refuse to even indicate which case will be heard first. The Board has continued to hold hearings at distant locations where worker witnesses have great difficulty in appearing. The Board has continued to deny, or simply ignore, legitimate requests for continuances.”

The letter, shown below, also notes the signers have been quiet up to this point out of fear of reprisals.

Dear Members of the Board,

We write as 47 individuals who work as field inspectors, seniors and district managers who interact frequently with the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board to strongly protest Board policies and practices that have significantly undermined our ability to do our job of protecting the lives, health and safety of California’s workers.

Over the last four years – and these policies continue to this very day – the Board has deliberately over-booked hearing days so that a single judge in the same location and the same time has as many as three or four hearings scheduled. The Board has continued to refuse to even indicate which case will be heard first. The Board has continued to hold hearings at distant locations where worker witnesses have great difficulty in appearing. The Board has continued to deny, or simply ignore, legitimate requests for continuances.

In June 2009, there are 32 days (at six locations) with three or more cases scheduled for the same judge, same location, same time. There are 14 days with four cases scheduled and one day with five cases scheduled (Oakland, June 17th).

How can we, who handle the majority of appeals for the Division, prepare exhibits, witnesses and arguments for three separate cases all scheduled for the same time? How can we convince worker witnesses to travel long distances, and then to come back after they have been sent home because their case wasn’t heard? The simple answer is that we can’t.

That’s why there have been hundreds more “settlements” over the last four years, many with drastic reductions of final penalties. These policies are in addition to the recent practice of the Board to dismiss cases, even those with serious injuries, on minor technicalities; and to unilaterally “interpret” legislation and ignore court rulings, so as to restrict the Division’s ability to enforce the law.

The net effect of the Board’s policies has been to sabotage the Division’s ability to defend citations and penalties on appeal. Cal/OSHA’s deterrent effect has been significantly undermined as employers learn they can “game the system” when the Division is coerced into settlements, often with penalties that are pennies on the dollar.

The people who pay the cost for these policies are California workers whose employers look at Cal/OSHA as an agency that is forced to fight with one hand tied behind its back.

We find it troubling that the Board has not processed the years-long backlog of petitions for reconsideration over which the Board has sole authority and responsibility. This again undermines worker protections in California as employers are not legally required to abate these citations which remain “under appeal” for years and years.

The voices of Cal/OSHA’s front-line employees have not been heard on these issues until now because many of us feared reprisals by the Board in the handling of our individual appeals cases, or the handling of cases from the offices where we work. The deck is already so stacked against the Division that any more obstacles from the Board would be too much. But the various hearings held this spring, and the fact that the Board finally has all three members, have given us hope that the Board’s unfair policies and practices can now be challenged.

As you must know, those of us representing the Division at appeal hearings are frequently “out-gunned” by the employers’ corporate attorneys who have more resources, personnel and time – even before we have been tripled-booked with hearings, often in places where worker witnesses find it difficult to appear. The current case load and over-booking mean that DOSH attorneys are saddled with an impossible task of preparing multiple major cases for the same day or on sequential days.

We know that not all citations are “open and shut” cases and we believe everyone, including employers, should have the right to a speedy appeal and an impartial review of the facts. All we want is a level playing field. (workersxzcompxzkit).

We ask you to cease and desist with the Board’s unfair policies and practices against Division personnel, and restore the balance to the appeals process so that employers and the Division are treated fairly and equally. California’s workers have a right to, and deserve, a workplace health and safety agency that can do its job.

Our links are now updated. Try them out.
Visit Our Websites: ReduceYourWorkersComp and WorkersCompKit
Try Our FREE Workers’ Comp Best Practices Quick Check
See Our: Workers Compensation ToolKit
View the Entire Blog: RYWC BLOG
More FREE tools to try: WC Calculator; TD Calculator; WC 101
Follow Us On TWITTER

Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs.

©2008 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. If you would like permission to reprint this material, contact Info@WorkersCompKit.com

Filed Under: California Workers Comp, Litigation Management Tagged With: California Workers Comp Issues, OSHA

Related Articles

COVID-19 and Statutory Presumptions

COVID-19 and Statutory Presumptions
Reduce Costs via Workers' Comp Litigation Management

Why Worker Comp Litigation Stalls and How To Get it Moving

Why Worker Comp Litigation Stalls and How To Get it Moving
workers comp litigation rate

17 Ways to Win Your Claims in Workers Compensation Litigation

17 Ways to Win Your Claims in Workers Compensation Litigation
Key Steps to Avoid and Manage Workers’ Comp Litigation

Identify And Correct Workers’ Comp Litigation Drivers

Identify And Correct Workers’ Comp Litigation Drivers

Avoid Workers’ Comp Litigation

Avoid Workers’ Comp Litigation

Overcoming Covid-19 Workers’ Comp Litigation Barriers

Overcoming Covid-19 Workers’ Comp Litigation Barriers

Using an Ombudsman to Reduce Work Comp Costs

Using an Ombudsman to Reduce Work Comp Costs

You’re Fired! Employment Releases in Work Comp

You’re Fired! Employment Releases in Work Comp

Develop Defense Attorney Relationships to Settle Work Comp Claims

Develop Defense Attorney Relationships to Settle Work Comp Claims

3 Strategies To Reduce Workers Comp Legal Costs

3 Strategies To Reduce Workers Comp Legal Costs

Important Factors In Workers Comp Defense Attorney Selection

Important Factors In Workers Comp Defense Attorney Selection

Older Workers And The Retirement Presumption

Older Workers And The Retirement Presumption

Free Download

9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers' Comp Employee Brochure - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Train to Succeed

BECOME CERTIFIED IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Proven Course Catalog & WC Toolbox Give You The Power To Achieve Lower Costs and Better Injured Worker Outcomes

VISIT WORKERS' COMP TRAINING CENTER

Free Download

How To Avoid, Manage, And Win Workers' Comp Claim Litigation - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Previous Post: « Canadian Workers Compensation and Truck Safety in British Columbia
Next Post: TEXAS Approves Workers Compensation Self-Insurer Renewals »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FREE DOWNLOAD

9-Element Blueprint To Create Your Workers' Comp Employee Brochure - FREE Download Click Here Now!

FREE DOWNLOAD

How To Avoid, Manage, And Win Workers' Comp Claim Litigation - FREE Download Click Here Now!

Our Sponsors

Post-Settlement Administration
 

ARCADIA - Enhancing Settlement Outcomes

The Structured Settlements Company
 

Catastrophic and Risk Solutions, Case Management Solutions, and Specialty Networks
 

Medcor

Injury Triage, Onsite Clinics

Read Our Award-Winning Blog

Blog Categories

Search Our Archive

Subscribe to Our FREE Newsletter

Return-to-Work Essentials

Footer

Search Our Archive

Search our continually growing archive of over 2500 articles about Workers' Comp issues.

Quiclinks

  • Calculators
  • Terms & Abbreviations
  • Glossary of WC Premium Terms
  • WC Resources
  • Best Practices
  • Industries
  • Return-to-Work Essentials

RSS Recent Blog Posts

  • Experts Explain How to Prevent Losing Continuation of Care Post-Settlement
  • 4 Key Ways to Ensure Return to Work Programs Save Money
  • Five Things to Include in Your Workers’ Comp Communication Policy
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEE NEWSLETTER
Let Us Help You Stomp Down the High Cost of Workers' Comp!
Top of Page ↑
  • Home
  • Training Center
  • Search
  • Membership
  • Products
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Login
Copyright © 2022 Amaxx, LLC. All Rights Reserved. · Privacy Policy / Legal Notice