CAL-OSHA Reporter |  May 25, 2024

As the Public Member of the California Occupational Safety and Health (“CalOSHA”) Standards Board, Alioto introduced a new regulation to prevent workplace injuries caused when heavy sliding gates fail and fall. The proposed regulation was born from the tireless efforts of Eric and Dayna Quanbeck, who founded the Hummingbird Alliance to raise awareness about gate safety after their seven-year old son Alex was tragically killed by a falling gate in his school playground in 2019.

“Among the inadequacies of Section 3324 as written is the absence of any safety feature requirement that would prevent a derailed sliding gate from falling away from the vertical plane of the static fence line,” Alioto says.

The death of a seven-year-old Marin County boy and a spate of workplace fatalities throughout California from gate accidents have converged to reform gate safety. Both a petition to amend Cal-OSHA’s rules and a legislative effort are underway.

The Cal/OSHA petition was submitted by Standards Board public member Joseph Alioto, Jr. He seeks to revise a 2007 standard, General Industry Safety Orders §3324, to require positive safety devices on horizontal sliding gates. Alioto also asks the Board to consider a new regulation covering swinging gates, adhering to a national consensus standard. Read full article (subscription required).