Sacramento, CA – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council applauded the California State Assembly’s approval of AB 2068 (Haney) to empower workers with knowledge of workplace safety and health violations and their rights on the job, in the language they understand. Currently, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is only mandated to post workplace citations and special orders in English. AB 2068 would require Cal/OSHA to issue a standardized workplace citation posting in the top seven non-English languages spoken by workers in California – Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean and Armenian, and Punjabi, a language spoken often in food processing.
Cal/OSHA postings are often important lifesaving information related to workplace conditions and safety. The bill will require the posting to include information on:
Cal/OSHA’s investigation of the workplace and that they found a workplace safety or health violation.
That the investigation resulted in one or more citations or orders that the employer must post at or near the place of the violation for three working days, or until the unsafe condition is abated, whichever is longer.
That the employers are required to communicate any hazards at the workplace to employees in a language and manner they understand; and
Contact information for the division and the internet website where employees can search for citations against their employer.
The following statement may be attributed to Amber Baur, Executive Director, UFCW Western States Council:
“When safety information is not available in a workers’ language, employers can keep workplace dangers a secret and workers can get hurt. It’s critical workers can access postings from Cal/OSHA in their language so they can remain safe on the job. That’s why UFCW members sponsored AB 2068 to help keep workers informed about what’s happening with their workplaces in their language and empower them to get involved with any investigations to ensure their workplaces are kept safe. We urge Governor Newsom to sign it into law.”
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2022
Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected]