Five floors, forty-eight feet: what section 1512 asks of a construction employer

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, that pool has to be sized to the combined headcount, not to the general contractor's own payroll. A narrow exception applies to certain engineering contractors and service providers who are not engaged in construction activity and who comply with Section 3400(b) instead.

The kit: physician's list or headcount table

Section 1512(c)(1) requires at least one first aid kit in a weatherproof container. Contents are checked regularly and replaced as used, kept sanitary and easy to find, and dressings are individually sealed and sterile. Minimum contents come from one of two places: a written list approved by a licensed physician the employer has authorized, or the table in the section, which steps up across four headcount brackets (1 to 5, 6 to 15, 16 to 200, and over 200). Every bracket includes record forms and a current first aid manual; the larger brackets add items such as forceps, a flashlight and portable oxygen.

Section 1512(c)(3) is the clause most often missed. Drugs, antiseptics, eye irrigation solutions, inhalants, medicines and proprietary preparations may not be included unless specifically approved in writing. A kit stocked with over-the-counter pain relievers and antiseptic spray, with no written approval behind it, does not comply, however well it is maintained.

Telling people what to do

Section 1512(d) requires that all employees be informed of the procedures to follow in case of injury or illness. Section 1512(e) requires suitable transportation to a physician or hospital, or an effective communication system to summon an ambulance, and it requires telephone numbers to be posted near the job telephone or switchboard: a physician and at least one alternate if available, hospitals, ambulance services, and fire-protection services. Section 1512(f) adds drenching or eye-flushing facilities, located conspicuously and readily accessible, where the work calls for them.

Five floors or forty-eight feet

Section 1512(g) is where the obligations change with the shape of the building. At five or more floors, or 48 feet above or below ground level, the employer must provide a two-way voice emergency communication system. It has to reach the persons designated in the plan, and it has to be capable of communicating the location and condition of the injured employee. The same subsection states that "the use of the construction passenger elevators for medical emergencies shall take precedence over all other use." Where site conditions impair communication, an alternative system acceptable to the Division may be used.

At the same threshold, Section 1512(h) requires at least one basket or equally appropriate litter with straps, plus two blankets or similar warm covering. A litter stored in a locked conex at ground level does little for a worker on the sixth floor deck.

Across twenty-five years of fire and rescue calls, the pattern on high-rise and below-grade construction was consistent: the delay was rarely the injury itself. It was finding the patient, getting a car to the right floor, and getting a stretcher to where the patient was. Subsections (g) and (h) are written to close exactly those gaps.

Putting it in writing

Section 1512(i) requires a written plan specifying the means of implementing all applicable requirements of the section. A single plan is acceptable for a combined program. The note at the end of the section confirms it is not intended to exclude immediate treatment of minor injuries.

A site walk in five questions

  • Is there a written agreement if more than one employer relies on the same program?

  • Do the trained responders on shift cover the combined headcount?

  • Is every medication, antiseptic or eye solution in the kit approved in writing?

  • Are the physician, alternate, hospital, ambulance and fire numbers posted at the job telephone?

  • At five floors or 48 feet, is the two-way system tested, is the elevator priority understood, and is the litter where the work is?

Michael Karl McNeil, REP, RIH, EPP, QSD, is a former Fire Battalion Chief with twenty-five years in the fire service. This post is general information about California regulations and is not legal advice.

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