Osha

Re: "Worker safety lost on appeal," Oct. 21: If a Cal-OSHA official writes a citation with the wrong name on it, it should be thrown out, just as a traffic citation should be voided if a traffic officer writes the wrong driver's name. It also strikes me as improper that Cal-OSHA has been able to decide the value of a fine for a workplace injury or death. Perhaps Cal-OSHA should be more concerned with correcting the cause of a problem -- even if it involves the closing of a business until safety concerns have been met -- than with collecting money for the state.

Rosa Frias was working the evening shift at Bimbo Bakeries in South San Francisco when she reached into her bread-making machine to remove a hunk of dried dough. She screamed as her left hand, and then her lower arm, were sucked into the gears of the Winkler stringline proofer. That night, the limb had to be amputated above the elbow. The incident drew a $21,750 fine from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. But Bimbo paid nothing. It appealed to the Cal-OSHA Appeals Board, which dismissed the case on a technicality: The inspector had retired and Cal-OSHA could not prove that he had had permission to enter the factory.

The head of California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health said Monday he will personally oversee a "rigorous and effective" criminal investigation into the Dec. 29 chemistry lab fire that killed a UCLA staff research assistant. Cal/OSHA Chief Len Welsh's pledge came after a civil probe last month resulted in one regulatory and three "serious" violations, and fines totaling $31,875. The family of the research assistant, Sheri Sangji, had criticized the review as inadequate.

The death of a temporary employee who was crushed in a stampede of post-Thanksgiving shoppers at a Wal-Mart store could have been prevented, federal officials said Tuesday as they proposed fining the world's largest retailer $7,000 -- as much as it makes in about 18 seconds. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it was citing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for inadequate crowd management after the Nov. 28 death of Jdimytai Damour at a Long Island store.

Re "UCLA cited for 'serious' violations in fatal lab fire," May 5 The blatant disregard for safety at UCLA is the standard for too many employers. It's cheaper to violate workplace safety laws in California than comply. And why not: OSHA is almost nonexistent, insurance pays only cents on the dollar of a claim and state laws generally prevent an injured worker or their family from suing. Can somebody please tell me why workplace safety law isn't a part of the public school curriculum?

Government investigators began sorting through the Dallas Cowboys' flattened practice facility in Irving, Texas, on Monday, trying to figure out why fierce winds sent the tent-like structure crashing down during a rookie workout session. Twelve people were hurt, including Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who was set to have surgery on his fractured cervical vertebrae Monday.

The U.S. Forest Service failed to follow a series of safety protocols before five federal firefighters died in an arson-set wildfire near Palm Springs in October, according to a report released Thursday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The federal labor agency found six "serious" health and safety violations that put the firefighters in peril by "exposing them to hazardous conditions of a burnover," the report says. The crew of Engine Co.

The deaths of three ski patrol members at Mammoth Mountain earlier this year might have been prevented had resort officials properly trained employees, posted more warning signs and written procedures for how to deal with toxic volcanic vents, state regulators said Friday.

A 72-year-old farmworker died Monday after falling from stacked pallets of cardboard boxes at Rio Farms in Camarillo, authorities said. Julian Romero of Oxnard was attempting to remove an empty wooden pallet used to hold down a tarp protecting an 8-foot stack of loaded pallets, according to the company. A co-worker using a forklift helped him get to the top of the pallets, and it appeared that Romero lost his footing, fell and struck his head on the pavement below, authorities said.