Michael Saqui and Mark Hanna of Barsamian, Saqui and Moody, Ray Madrigal of the CHP's SAFE program, Gil Molina, U.S. Wage Hour Officer, and George Daniels of Farm Employers Labor Service will join to speak on the continuing Social Security mismatch dilemma, farm worker transportation liability and new rules, and changes in overtime, sick leave, new hire reporting, and more.

Sponsoring organizations are the CSU Fresno Center for Ag Business, AgSafe, FELS, the UC Agricultural Personnel Management Program, and the law firm Barsamian, Saqui and Moody.

To pre-register, send name(s), firm/organization, address, and phone number to CSUF Center for Ag Business, 2910 E. Barstow Ave., M/S OF115, Fresno, CA 93740-8009 or Fax (559) 278-6032.  The fee is $30 per person, payable to "CSUF Foundation."  Faxed registrations are considered commitments to pay.  Registration after April 28 is $5 more.  For information, call (559) 278-4405.
 

The Law Firm of Barsamian, Saqui, and Moody produces the newsletter "Labor and Employment Law Reporter."  To be placed on their mailing list, contact Mark Hanna at (559) 248-2360.

Cal/OSHA's poster Safety and Health Protection on the Job (English or Spanish) was revised January 2000.  Cal/OSHA's posters may be requested on (415) 703-5050, or ordered electronically at http://www.dir.ca.gov/databases/edtraintest/public3.html

APMP Newsletterreaders are Urgedto join my New E-Mailing List.  To stay in touch with brief messages, time-sensitive notices, and articles, and to facilitate electronic discussion, I now own and manage a UC Davis e-mail list.  Subscription is free, but controlled.  To subscribe to ag-busnet, send a request to Steve Sutter, at srsutter@ucdavis.edu, (or Yolanda Murillo at ymurillo@ucdavis.edu).  Include your name, firm/organization, city, and state.  Your e-mail address is confidential; shown only if you post a message to the full list.

On February 24, 2000, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the "Farm Worker Transportation  Safety Act" S. 2095, which was read and referred to the Health and Education Committee chaired by Senator James Jeffords (R-VT).  S. 2095 joins nearly 300 other bills this Committee is working on (http://www.senate.gov/~labor/).

S. 2095 would make it illegal, under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, to transport farm workers unless each passenger has a "designated seat" with an operational seat belt.  This would apply "no matter how the vans are purchased or modified."  After a 7-year transition period, commercial vehicles that transport farm workers would have to meet the same seat and seat belt standards as new vehicles.  At press time, no hearings on the bill have been held.  Status/text of federal legislation is at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html

California workers' compensation rates are rising ... Every year since 1995, California's workers' compensation industry has had a combined ratio (losses and expenses to premium revenue) greater than 100%, with a record 141% in 1998.  Each dollar of insurers' premiums in 1998 was offset by $1.41 in payments and costs.  Workers' compensation claims rose from $4.5 billion in 1994 to $6.2 billion in 1998.  Average claim cost in 1998 was $26,921.

Last year, California's Insurance Department advised carriers to raise overall rates 18.4% "to ensure the system's solvency" -- effective on policy renewals in 2000.  "Even one year with an 18.4% increase will not mean a profitable year for California's workers' compensation insurance industry," said Dave Bellusci, senior vice president and chief actuary for the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau.

SSA Threshold Holds ... In my March 1998 newsletter, I said in part that the SSA was returning W-2 reports filed on magnetic media without processing them if 50% or more of the 1997 W-2's are "bad."  The 50% "threshold" for rejecting mag media or electronically filed W-2 reports still holds this year, according to Bill Brees, Employer Services Liaison Officer, SSA, San Francisco Regional Office.  "We're in the very early discussion phase of possible changes for next year," he said.  Past APMP Newsletters are at http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/pubs/sutterpubs/sutternews.html

Fieldworker Pesticide Safety Training Tool Available Again ...  Fieldworker pesticide safety training, with topics specified by Cal/EPA's Department of Pesticide Regulation, must occur every 5 years before a worker may enter a treated field.  Generally, a "treated field" is one that had a restricted entry interval in effect within the last 30 days.

At least 2 major farming companies in the Central and Salinas Valleys still use and recommend a printed/audio cassette training tool I produced years ago.  "PESTICIDE SAFETY GUIDE FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS" (GUIA DE SEGURIDAD SOBRE PESTICIDAS PARA LOS TRABAJADORES AGRICOLAS) are brief  English/Spanish leaflets.  The Spanish leaflet is narrated on a 9 minute audio tape by Jenny Rodriguez.  These employers play the tape for workers from supervisors' pickups or on farm labor buses, answer questions, and make scripts and Pesticide Safety Information Series Leaflet A-9 (Revised 1999) available to workers.

The leaflet/audio tape training tool is Cal/EPA "aceptado" (accepted).  The leaflets were edited by Monterey County's Agricultural Commissioner in 1995, and accepted (with added illustrations) by Cal/EPA in 1997, as part of my approved fieldworker train-the-trainer course.

To order the Spanish cassette and Spanish/English scripts, send $4, payable to "County of Fresno," to Yolanda Murillo, UCCE, 1720 S. Maple Ave., Fresno, CA 93702.

Pesticide Safety Information Series Leaflets are available from County Ag Commissioners or at:  http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/whs/psi2menu.htm

Most California employers must now ensure and certify that each powered industrial truck (forklift) operator is competent to operate the vehicle safely as demonstrated by successful completion of the training and evaluation specified by Cal/OSHA Safety Order 3668.  For employees hired before July 15, 2000, initial training and evaluation must be completed by July 15, 2000.  For employees hired after July 15, 2000, initial training and evaluation must be done before the employee is assigned to operate a forklift.

"Agricultural operations" are exempt from the requirements of Safety Order 3668.  These are defined as "all operations necessary to farming in all its branches, including maintenance of machinery or other facilities, and the planting, cultivating or growing, keeping for sale, harvesting, transporting on the farm or to the place of first processing, any tree, plant, animal, fowl, fish, insect or products thereof."

Trainees may operate a forklift only under direct supervision of those with  the knowledge, training, and experience to train them and evaluate their competence, and where such operation doesn't endanger the trainee or others.

Employers must certify that each forklift operator has been trained and evaluated.  Include the operator's name, training date, evaluation date, and the name of the person(s) performing the training or evaluation. Employers may do their own "in-house" training and evaluation, if a manager, supervisor, or employee has the knowledge, training, and experience to train operators and evaluate their competence.

Forklift operators must receive initial training in the following topics, except those the employer can show are not relevant to the safe operation of the forklift in the employer's workplace.

Truck-related topics: (A) Operating instructions, warnings, and precautions for the types of truck the operator will operate; (B) Differences between the truck and the automobile; (C) Truck controls and instrumentation: where they are located, what they do, and how they work; (D) Engine or motor operation; (E) Steering and maneuvering; (F) Visibility (including restrictions due to loading); (G) Fork and attachment adaptation, operation, and use limitations; (H) Vehicle capacity; (I) Vehicle stability; (J) Any vehicle inspection and maintenance the operator will do: (K) Refueling and/or recharging of batteries; (L) Operating limitations; and (M) Any other instructions, warnings, or precautions listed in the operator's manual for the types of vehicle the employee will operate.

Workplace-related topics: (A) Surface conditions where the vehicle will operate; (B) Composition and stability of loads carried; (C) Load manipulation, stacking, and unstacking; (D) Pedestrian traffic where the vehicle will be operated; (E) Narrow aisles and other restricted places where the vehicle will be operated; (F) Hazardous locations where the vehicle will be operated; (G) Ramps and other sloped surfaces that could affect vehicle stability; (H) Closed environments and other areas where insufficient ventilation or poor vehicle maintenance could cause a build-up of carbon monoxide or diesel exhaust; and (I) Other unique or potentially hazardous workplace conditions that may affect safe operation.

Training must be a combination of formal instruction (videotape, discussion, lecture, written material, interactive computer learning), practical training (demonstrations performed by the trainer and practical exercises done by the trainee), and evaluation of the operator's performance in the workplace.

Refresher training in relevant topics, including an evaluation of the effectiveness of the training, must be done when: (A) The operator has been observed operating the vehicle in an unsafe way; (B) The operator was involved in an accident or near-miss incident; (C) The operator has received an evaluation that reveals the operator is not operating the truck safely; (D) The operator is assigned to drive a different type of truck; or (E) A condition in the workplace changes in a way that may affect safe truck operation.  Evaluate each forklift operator's performance at least every 3 years.

Every employer using industrial trucks or industrial tow tractors must post and enforce a set of operating rules including the appropriate rules listed on Cal/OSHA poster "Operating Rules for Industrial Trucks" S-503, and S-503S (Spanish).