Safety, Insurance, and Risk Management
Write it down, train it, enforce it
Cal/OSHA requires every employer with employees to maintain a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program (Title 8 CCR 3203) with defined responsibility, hazard assessment, training, and correction. Key construction standards: fall protection is required at 7.5 feet; scaffolds need a competent person and proper guardrails; excavations 5 feet or deeper need protective systems and daily competent-person inspections; hazard communication requires access to safety data sheets; PPE and equipment training are mandatory. Tailgate meetings and documentation matter because citations follow the paper trail.
Insurance is a separate layer. Commercial general liability, written on an occurrence form, covers third-party bodily injury and property damage but not your own employees - that is workers' compensation, which is the exclusive remedy for employee injury. Builders risk covers the structure under construction. Additional insured status and completed-operations coverage are separate endorsements; a certificate of insurance is evidence, not a guarantee. California limits broad Type I indemnity in residential construction contracts, so indemnity clauses must be read closely. Owner- or contractor-controlled insurance programs shift coverage to a wrap-up policy.
Trap: assuming a CGL policy pays to redo your own defective work - it typically covers resulting damage, not the cost of correcting your work.
Rule of thumb: before mobilizing, collect certificates naming the owner and general contractor as additional insured, verify workers' comp, and confirm the IIPP is on site.