On March 27, 2026, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board retracted a worker-friendly decision issued earlier in March because it failed to consider the employer’s answer to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) petition for reconsideration due to a clerical error.
Quick Hits
- A clerical error led to the Cal/OSHA Appeals Board’s decision to retract a worker-friendly ruling that it issued on March 12, 2026.
- In the original ruling, the Appeals Board overturned a Cal/OSHA administrative law judge’s decision that vacated two Serious Accident-Related citations the agency imposed on a general contractor after a sub-subcontractor’s worker sustained serious injuries in a fall accident.
In its KPRS Construction Services, Inc., decision, issued on March 12, 2026, the Appeals Board overturned a Cal/OSHA administrative law judge’s (ALJ) vacating of two Serious Accident-Related citations the agency imposed on a general contractor after a sub-subcontractor’s worker fell about twenty-seven feet off a roof, sustaining serious injuries.
Although the Appeals Board retracted its ruling, general contractors and controlling employers in California may want to note the following:
- Inspections should be conducted in every place where employees are working.
- Employers must demonstrate due diligence to establish a valid lack of knowledge defense.
- General contractors are responsible for all subcontractors, even sub-subcontractors.
The case is now back with the Appeals Board for reconsideration.
