An effort to make for safer workplaces is not taken for granted in California.
Recently, the Labor Enforcement Task Force (LETF), a multi-agency team of inspectors, participated in Operation Underground, a statewide enforcement action at construction worksites throughout California.
Ten investigators from Cal/OSHA and the California Labor Commissioner’s offices were deployed in Los Angeles, the Silicon Valley, Fresno and the Inland Empire.
The enforcement effort is focused on curbing practices common in the underground economy that harm legitimate businesses and workers, including wage theft, tax evasion and fraud.
As a result of inspections, 81 citations with penalties of more than $135,000 were issued for various labor law and workplace safety violations, including four work stop-orders for failure to maintain workers compensation coverage in Fresno, Chino Hills and Uplands.
Inspectors found serious safety hazards such as:
• Saws without safety guards
• Scaffolding, stairways, and an open skylight on a roof with no guard rails
Inspectors also found wage theft violations including:
• Inadequate workers comp coverage
• Failure to pay overtime
• Failure to provide pay stubs
Not only do these practices provide a competitive edge over compliant establishments, they also compromise the well-being of employees and increase taxpayer burden.
“These citations serve as a reminder that underground employers who commit wage theft and intentionally put their workers at risk will not be tolerated,” said Christine Baker, director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), which administers LETF, and oversees both Cal/OSHA and the California Labor Commissioner’s offices.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
©2014 Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.
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