California HAZWOPER : What you need to know

California's hazardous waste operations and emergency response (HAZWOPER) rules for general industry workplaces mirror federal rules, with additional requirements for safety and health plans and personal protective equipment that are stricter than the federal rules (8 CCR 5192).

The CA Department of Industrial Relations/Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) administers and enforces workplace safety and health rules for private and public sector workplaces in the state.

Hazardous substance removal work requirements. The organizational structure part of the program must include, in addition to the requirements under the federal HAZWOPER rules:

• A general supervisor or certified supervisor for hazardous substance removal work, who has the responsibility and authority to direct all hazardous waste operations
• A qualified person for operations defined as hazardous substance removal work, who must be responsible for scheduling any air sampling, laboratory calibration of sampling equipment, evaluation of soil or other contaminated materials sampling results, and for conducting any equipment testing and evaluating the results of the tests

Site-specific safety and health plan, prejob conference. For operations defined as hazardous substance removal work, a prejob health and safety conference must be held before the start of actual work. The conference must include representatives of the owner or contracting agency, the contractor, the employer, employees, and employee representatives; and must include a discussion of the employer's safety and health program and the means, methods, devices, processes, practices, conditions, or ...