Health, Safety, and Security
Safety items cluster around four California-specific programs that candidates routinely under-prepare: the IIPP, heat illness prevention, workplace violence prevention, and workers' compensation.
Every California employer, regardless of size or industry, must maintain a written Injury and Illness Prevention Program under Title 8 Section 3203, with defined responsibilities, a system for identifying hazards, prompt correction of hazards, training, and communication with employees. Recordkeeping: Cal/OSHA 300 and 301 logs, with the 300A summary posted February 1 through April 30 and records retained five years. Report a fatality to Cal/OSHA within eight hours and a serious injury or illness within 24 hours.
Heat illness rules require water, rest, shade, training, and acclimatization for newly assigned workers; a separate indoor heat standard extends similar protections. SB 553 created the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan requirement effective July 1, 2024 - a written plan, hazard identification, training, a violent incident log, and five-year retention - with narrow exceptions such as healthcare settings covered by other standards and small locations not accessible to the public.
Workers' compensation is no-fault and the exclusive remedy for work injuries. Provide the DWC-1 within one working day of knowledge, accept or deny within 30 days, and pay temporary disability at two-thirds of wages, capped at 104 weeks, plus a supplemental job displacement voucher when there is no return-to-work offer.
Trap: applying federal OSHA reporting clocks instead of Cal/OSHA's, or assuming a small employer is exempt from the IIPP.
Rule of thumb: a stem mentioning a 'serious injury' or 'fatality' is testing a reporting deadline; one mentioning a written safety program is testing the IIPP.