Safety Agency Decides Not to Make Rules on Indoor Heat

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It’s not often that a regulatory agency takes a look at a health problem and decides not to regulate, but that’s precisely what happened last month as the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health considered whether to impose indoor heat illness requirements on employers.


The drive for indoor heat regulations has started and sputtered over the years, but received a big boost two years ago when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration rushed to enact outdoor heat regulations in the wake of a string of heat-related deaths, mostly among field hands in the Central Valley. At that time, the administration also promised to look at the issue of regulating indoor environments.


But employer groups opposed the regulation effort, saying variation in indoor workplaces was so broad that crafting a “one-size-fits-all” regulation would be cumbersome and ineffective. Still, worker advocates pressed their case as several employees of a Rite Aid Corp. warehouse in Lancaster trooped up to Sacramento to argue for tougher regulations on indoor heat.


They said the temperature inside the warehouse which had no air conditioning regularly topped 100 degrees in the summer and argued that it led to heat exhaustion and one heat-related fatality. (A spokesman for Rite Aid said at the time that the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office report indicated that the fatality was not heat related.)


The workers testified in favor of Assembly Bill 1045, by then-Assemblywoman (now U.S. Rep.) Laura Richardson, D- Long Beach. The bill requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to craft regulations to reduce indoor heat illness.


However, at the same time, division staff concluded the regulation wasn’t needed. Division chief Len Welsh told the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board at its August meeting that in 2006 the division only investigated six cases of indoor heat illness. With such a low level of cases, Welsh said staff concluded the situation was best handled with more attention to existing worker training regulations as part of the 15-year-old Injury and Illness Prevention Program.


“The data doesn’t show there is an overwhelming problem that requires a full regulation to address,” division spokesman Dean Fryer said.


That news was greeted with relief from the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, which had argued that a regulation was unnecessary and costly. The association said it was willing to work with the state to beef up training and heat illness prevention efforts.


But it was greeted with dismay from worker advocates. “It’s unconscionable considering the situation we have in California with increased heat and more work locations in hot areas,” said Fran Schreiberg, an attorney with WorkSafe, a coalition of labor, community and occupational health professionals.


Last week, Richardson’s bill passed the Legislature and was sent on to the governor’s office, but after the division’s ruling even Schreiberg acknowledged Schwarzenegger is almost certain to veto it.



Jewelry Crackdown

Just as lead in products made in China has become big news, California regulators are preparing to crack down on the makers and distributors of jewelry sold in the state found to contain lead.


Last year, the Legislature passed a law placing limitations on the lead content in jewelry, including a maximum lead concentration of 600 parts per million for most types of jewelry. The law applies to anyone who makes, ships, sells or offers jewelry for sale. As of this past Sept. 1, the law targets jewelry sold to children under the age of 18; jewelry sold to adults must be compliant with the restrictions by March 1 of next year.


The state Department of Toxic Substances Control is in charge of enforcing this law. In a posting on the agency’s Web site, officials said they have already begun stepping up enforcement, both responding to consumer or worker complaints and conducting “marketplace surveillance.”


However, the department won’t be looking at dozens of companies that last year reached an agreement with then-Attorney General Bill Lockyer to limit lead content in the jewelry they make or sell. Major retailers including Saks Inc.; Liz Clairborne Inc.; Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., Target Corp. and Sears Corp. signed on to the agreement, as did manufacturers like Arden Jewelry Manufacturing Co.


For more information on the Lead in Jewelry Law and on the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s enforcement of it, go to the site: dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Jewelry.



Deferred Compensation

Employers in Los Angeles and throughout the nation that offer deferred compensation packages to their management employees have a whole new set of regulations to comply with by the end of the year.


In response to the explosion of deferred compensation packages offered to chief executives and other top managers including huge and controversial bonuses and severance packages the Internal Revenue Service issued the new regulations last April.


Among other things, the 400 pages of regulations require employers to define in advance when deferred compensation payouts must be made (to prevent manipulations such as backdating stock options) and, in some cases, delaying payouts in severance packages for six months. Penalties for not complying with the regulations can be steep and include acceleration of income tax and a 20 percent penalty on the deferred compensation amount.


As a first step, employers should inventory all plans, programs and agreements that they sponsor in which payment is deferred beyond the year in which it is earned, said Steve Friedman, chair of the employee benefits and executive compensation practice at employment law firm Littler Mendelson LLP.


For more information on the regulations, log on to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Web site at: treasury.gov/press/releases/hp345.htm.



Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 227 or at [email protected].

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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