Reprinted from the CalOSHA Reporter

Standards Board First 2014 Meeting a Short One

COSTA MESA – The first meeting of the year for the Cal/OSH Standards Board didn’t quite set a record for the shortest ever, but it came close. There were no comments on two proposals that were up for public hearing and the board did not adopt any proposals.

But the meeting did give a group of psychiatric nurses a chance to appear personally before the board to let them know about the dangerous conditions they face. Katherine Hughes, RN, labor specialist for Service Employees International Union 121 RN in Pasadena, said that the group is preparing a petition seeking greater protections for psych nurses from workplace violence.

Hughes explained that her group wanted to appear at the meeting and announce their intent to file a petition, because it is the only Los Angeles-area board meeting this year. Half of the 2014 board meetings are in Sacramento due to ongoing budget concerns, four others are in the Bay Area and the Sept. 18 meeting is in San Diego. The nurses work at regional psychiatric facilities in the L.A. area and face many of the same conditions as their counterparts at state facilities.