The UFCW Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Office team recently conducted OSHA general industry outreach trainings for locals in California and Pennsylvania.
On Jan. 22 and 23, OSH Office Director Roy McAllister and OSH Specialist Victoria Valentina visited UFCW Local 1167 in Riverside, Calif., to help workforce development coordinators from various locals earn their 30-hour Cal/OSHA general industry cards. Cal/OSHA is California’s OSHA program, which requires workers to complete training on job-specific safety hazards. Cal/OSHA enforces workplace health and safety standards and regulations that are often stricter than federal OSHA guidelines.
Union representatives and members of UFCW Locals 5, 135, 324, 1167, and 1428 attended the training, as well as workers from Embarc, a cannabis dispensary based in Fresno, Calif.
“After having taken the first part of the class, I can’t go into any building without looking for health and safety issues. I can’t unlearn what I have learned,” said one of the attendees of the Cal/OSHA training.
The following week, the OSH Office team traveled to Harrisburg, Pa., to finish off the last half of a 30-hour OSHA general industry training for Local 1776 cannabis members. McAllister previously visited this local in November 2024 to teach the first half of the course. During this training, cannabis workers learned how to recognize physical and chemical hazards present in their line of work. They also learned how to develop safety and health programs, develop fire prevention plans, and implement a variety of controls to mitigate risks and prevent injuries specific to the cannabis industry and beyond.
“I went back to my job and was able to use the information I learned from the training to get the employer to make sure hot and cold water was available in the bathrooms per OSHA standards,” said one of the cannabis workers who attended the training.
If your local is interested in coordinating an OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour outreach training with the OSH Office team, contact OSH Office Director Roy McAllister at rmcallister@ufcw.org or OSH Specialist Victoria Valentina at vvalentina@ufcw.org.