Utility CalOSHA Status Update In Palo Alto

Press release from the City of Palo Alto:

January 15, 2021

In late 2019, the Palo Alto community suffered the tragic of a City Utility employee. Since that time, the City has continued to to be responsive to the CalOSHA investigation, which is standard when there is a workplace injury or death. 

In July 2020, CalOSHA issued eight (8) citations against the City for alleged violations relating to training and procedures. Notices of the alleged OSHA citations were posted on bulletin boards and other employee locations as required. The City is appealing the citations. Go here for the CalOSHA information available online.

As with any safety or other related work situation, the City continues to re-examine existing practices and protocols. The City has made improvements to its new employee onboarding processes. In addition, a new Safety Officer was hired and since that time improvements have been made to Utilities safety practices, policies, and training materials.

This press release was produced by the City of Palo Alto. The views expressed here are the author’s own.