Late last year AgNet West reported that new nighttime labor regulation talks that had been going on for several years were quietly moving forward and could be finalized early this year. “This standard is specific to ag and those operations working at night,” AgSafe CEO Amy Wolfe told AgNet West last November. “We could see this before the standards board (early) next year but certainly by June and potentially be approved and take effect by our 2020 season.”
That time has come as the CalOSHA Standards Board will review the proposed language on April 18 in Sacramento. The language will require a minimum lighted radius around individual workers and clearly identified pathways and areas, among other rules. “This now requires at 10-foot candle brightness requirement. So if you used a worker harvesting grapes at night as the center point, this standard is saying that there has to be 10 feet of light from him outward, 360 degrees around him,” Wolfe said. “And because of concerns around slip, trip and fall hazards and potential interactions around equipment, they are now saying you have to designate safe areas for the start and end of a shift and break areas.”
Many agricultural groups oppose the proposed language. Wolfe added that between producers voiding warranties by illuminating equipment with modifications or running engine-powered lights that increase emissions, it might be a lose-lose situation, “We’re really going to be at a crossroads of you’re damned if you do and your damned if you don’t when it comes the amount of light you’ll have to provide.”
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