Michael Karl McNeil

On most California construction projects, the first aid kit is the only part of the medical plan anyone can point to. Title 8, Section 1512 asks for considerably more: trained people, a posted list of numbers, a way to get an injured worker off the site, and, once a building reaches a certain height or depth, a communication system and a litter that a crew can actually use. Whose program it is Section 1512(a) makes each employer responsible for the availability of emergency medical services for its own employees. On a multi-employer site the employers may agree to a single program, provided it is adequate for the combined workforce, and only one program is needed per site. The agreement is what makes a shared program valid. Without it, every contractor on the site owns its own obligation. Trained people, counted against the whole crew Section 1512(b) requires a sufficient number of appropriately trained persons to render first aid. Where a single program covers several employers, ...

This note covers three short sections of California's Construction Safety Orders: Title 8, Section 1524 (Water Supply), Section 1526 (Toilets at Construction Jobsites) and Section 1527 (Washing Facilities, Food Handling, and Temporary Sleeping Quarters). I have set out what each one says about drinking water, toilet counts, the mobile-crew exception and hand washing, with the subsection for each point. Drinking water: Section 1524(a) Section 1524 (a)(1) reads that an adequate supply of potable water shall be provided in all places of employment. A note under that paragraph points to Section 3395 for additional drinking water requirements in outdoor places of employment. Section 1524(a)(2) then has the employer take one or more of four steps so that every employee has access to drinking water: provide drinking fountains; supply single-service cups, with a sanitary container for the unused cups and a receptacle for the used ones; supply sealed one-time use water containers, ...