Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

California guidance for worker protection during post-wildfire cleanups

Posted by Jon Elliott on Wed, Apr 23, 2025

In the aftermath of January’s massive southern California wildfires, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has recompiled and highlighted its guidance for post-wildfire cleanup. Although this guidance is not unique (I’ve written about similar websites HERE), it provides a timely reminder to organizations in areas that may be subject to wildfires, and to other harmful incidents as well. The remainder of this note summarizes Cal/OSHA’s latest compilation.

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Tags: workplace safety, Cal/OSHA, Fire Safety, Wildfire Cleanup, Occupational Health, Hazard Assessment, Environmental Health and Safety, Wildfire Preparedness, Health Hazards, Safety Regulations, Fire Risk Management, Emergency Response, Worker Safety, Post-Wildfire Recovery, Workplace Safety Guidelines

Department of Labor reports fewer occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths last year

Posted by Jon Elliott on Wed, Mar 26, 2025

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles data about occupational injuries and illnesses (I&I), and issues annual reports about occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities. BLS cooperates with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements that employers record occupational I&I as they occur, and compile annual I&I logs to inform workers and regulators of overall rates.  BLS issued its report for calendar year 2023 in December 2024, highlighting causes and distributions of workplace deaths, and noting that they were lower than in 2022. The rest of this note summarizes how these occupational incidents are reported and counted. 

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Tags: Health & Safety, OSHA, EHS, Safety and Health at Work, Injury, Health and Safety Compliance, Workplace Safety Guidelines, Risk Management