Cal/OSHA is strengthening its efforts to increase workplace safety by ramping up recruitment and hiring more investigator staff for its Bureau of Investigations. This important unit is responsible for investigations related to the most serious workplace injuries, including death and makes recommendations for criminal prosecutions. The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and its Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) announced that it has increased it staffing for its Bureau of Investigations (BOI) unit.

Since July, a total of nine positions have been filled for offices throughout the state. This includes a new Chief Investigator and eight investigative staff. Special Investigators are now co-located with enforcement offices in Redding, Sacramento, Oakland, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield and San Diego. Along with this round of hires, BOI is also in the process of recruiting a Supervising Special Investigator for Northern California and an additional investigator in either Santa Barbara or Riverside.

“The Bureau of Investigations has a separate but important role focusing on the criminal responsibility of employers in accident-related deaths and life altering injuries,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee. “Having more resources at BOI will help Cal/OSHA in its mission and bring attention to the importance of workplace safety and health.”

Previously, the BOI unit operated statewide with just a fraction of its current staffing. This latest announcement will allow BOI to tackle more cases and ensure that the most negligent of employers are held accountable.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is a division with the Department of Industrial Relations that helps protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job in almost every workplace in California. Employers who have questions or want assistance with workplace health and safety programs can call Cal/OSHA’s Consultation Services Branch at 800-963-9424.

This announcement follows numerous media stories over the last few months about California agricultural workers still dying despite the new outdoor heat regulations by Cal/OSHA.

For example, a report this month by the Fresno Bee discussed the case of a recent immigrant from Colombia, Erika Deluque, who began to feel weak while working in a Dixon tomato field in triple-digit heat. Nearby co-workers noticed Deluque and suggested she go home. Still Deluque felt hesitant. She feared losing her job.

To convince her, a group of five farmworkers offered to go home with her in solidarity. The workers and Deluque said they got permission from their supervisor to go home early that June 6 as an excessive heat warning continued.

When they returned the following day, the entire group was told there was no more work for them and received their final paychecks.

“Truthfully, if I had known they were going to fire me, I probably wouldn’t have left, even if I felt so bad,” Deluque said.

Conrado Ruiz, the owner of the contractor that employed the workers, declined to comment on the allegations.

While Cal-OSHA and the California Labor Commissioner’s Office investigate the incident as a retaliatory firing, the six farmworkers have become the face for new legislation intended to prevent similar situations.

On Monday, Deluque and the other workers recalled their experiences at a press conference outside the Capitol for Senate Bill 1299. The legislation, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, would make workers’ compensation claims for farmworkers presumed work-related when agricultural employers are not complying with heat safety standards.

Cal/OSHA Bolsters Staff to Investigate the Most Egregious Violations