{"id":14516,"date":"2026-10-19T07:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T11:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=14516"},"modified":"2026-10-18T13:24:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T17:24:48","slug":"sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"firstcharacter\">D<\/span>iscussing California\u2019s OSHA program (Cal\/OSHA) tend to be a game of \u201cBest of times, worst of times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s OSHA program is often praised for its issuance of OSHA standards that federal OSHA has failed to issue. These include standards covering airborne infectious diseases, ergonomics, heat, workplace violence and an improved Process Safety Management standard for refineries.<\/p>\n<p>But the actual funding of the program has been inadequate, and the operation of the program is rife with scandal. The <em>Sacramento Bee<\/em> newspaper has run a series of investigative articles since August documenting shocking instances of management failure at Cal\/OSHA.\u00a0 The series details the misuse of state funds to investigate selected employees, while turning a blind eye to a District Manager who has generated multiple formal complaints and lawsuits for bullying and creating a hostile work environment, run a side business using state resources, hired and promoted unqualified people as compliance officers, and ordered citations downgraded and approved \u201cno violation\u201d findings where workers have been injured and disabled.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the <em>Bee\u2019s<\/em> investigative series is that none of Cal\/OSHA\u2019s senior managers \u2013 Regional Managers, Deputy Chiefs, or Chief \u2013 has been held accountable for this string of human resource management scandals.\u00a0 These failures, which have a serious demoralizing impact inside and outside the agency, are in addition to the adverse effect of years-long understaffing and underfunding of Cal\/OSHA\u2019s enforcement offices that have seriously undermined the agency\u2019s ability to protect California\u2019s 19 million workers.<\/p>\n<p>The major findings of the articles written by investigative reporter Joe Rubin and published in August and October include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cal\/OSHA spent $80,000 investigating District Manager Michael Loupe over seven allegations, including one that Loupe shot a toy bow-and-arow at a photograph of Governor Gavin Newsom. Loupe was cleared of all accusations 18 months after the February 2023 charges were made.<\/li>\n<li>The $80,000 Loupe investigation was part of a $500,000 no-bid contract given to the Shaw Law Group paid for by funds diverted by the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) from the Worker Compensation Administration Revolving Fund. State law prohibits the use of the worker comp funds for this type of expense, and DIR has failed to publicly report whether the worker comp funds have been repaid.<\/li>\n<li>Between 2020 and 2026, DIR has raided the Revolving Fund for $30 million to pay for pet projects, employee investigations, and other activities prohibited by state law for this fund.<br \/>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the <em>Bee\u2019s<\/em> investigative series is that none of Cal\/OSHA\u2019s senior managers \u2013 Regional Managers, Deputy Chiefs, or Chief \u2013 has been held accountable for this string of human resource management scandals.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<li>No action has been taken by DOSH leadership regarding Santa Ana District Manager AJ Perera whom the <em>Bee<\/em> reported had:<\/li>\n<li>Been the target of multiple formal complaints and lawsuits related to bullying, verbal abuse, and a hostile work environment, including one lawsuit that resulted in a $40,000 settlement paid by DIR, and referrals to the California State Auditor;<\/li>\n<li>Run a personal side business \u2013 purchasing, remodeling and reselling homes \u2013 while being a District Manager and using state resources such as email; failing to provide legally-required safety equipment such as fall protection for roofers; and failing to pull required permits from local agencies for the construction work;<\/li>\n<li>Hired and promoted to inspector positions individuals (one of which was his wife) who did not have the training or experience to be inspectors, but whose resumes were \u201cpuffed\u201d to meet the \u201cminimum qualifications\u201d for the jobs; and<\/li>\n<li>Ordered compliance officers to downgrade citations issued to employers found to be in violation of state law, or to issue no citations even in cases where workers were injured and disabled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It should be noted that in 2021 the District Manager of the Santa Ana District Office, Richard Fazlollahi, plead guilty to 14 felonies in a bribery scheme involving receiving cash in return for reduced fines to employers who were found to be in violation of state law and who had injured employees.\u00a0 The Santa Ana District Office is in the same building as the office of the Region III Manager (who oversees the District Office) and the office of the current Chief of Cal\/OSHA.<\/p>\n<h2>No one has been held accountable<\/h2>\n<p>As of this writing, DIR has not publicly confirmed that the workers comp funds used to pay for the Shaw Law Group\u2019s investigations has been repaid by DIR. \u00a0District Manager AJ Perera is still working for Cal\/OSHA.\u00a0 No senior Cal\/OSHA manager responsible for investigating Michael Loupe, or supervising Perera, or responding to multiple complaints of misuse of state resources, illegal hires and promotions, and downgrading worker protections in Perera\u2019s office, has been held accountable.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>This impunity for top Cal\/OSHA managers has a corrosive and dispiriting impact on the ranks of DOSH employees who are trying to meet the mandate and mission of protecting workers in California.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This impunity for top Cal\/OSHA managers has a corrosive and dispiriting impact on the ranks of DOSH employees who are trying to meet the mandate and mission of protecting workers in California.\u00a0 Field enforcement offices and inspectors are already suffering from years-long understaffing \u2013 more than ten field offices have had inspector vacancies greater than 50% over the last three years.\u00a0 Official statistics indicate that less than half of worker complaints and accident reports result in on-site inspections, and the number of citations issued after the rushed and perfunctory inspections that do occur has dropped over the last several years.<\/p>\n<h2>Media oversight goes dark<\/h2>\n<p>Unfortunately, there will not be <em>Sacramento Bee<\/em> follow-up articles on the investigative series because in September the hedge fund \u2013 Chatham Asset Management \u2013 that owns the <em>Bee <\/em>as part of the McClatchy newspaper chain, laid off Joe Rubin and more than 90 journalists and media workers at 17 publications in California and nationally.<\/p>\n<p>At the <em>Bee<\/em>, in addition to Joe Rubin (the paper\u2019s only investigative reporter), 15% of journalists were let go, including the entire sports department and the newspaper\u2019s opinion desk.<\/p>\n<p>Rubin\u2019s last day at work was October 9<sup>th<\/sup>, so it is unlikely that any of the promises made by DIR to provide additional information about the repayment of workers comp funds, or about accountability for the management of the Santa Ana District Office, will ever see the light of day.<\/p>\n<h2>New Governor, New Cal\/OSHA?<\/h2>\n<p>Another state official asleep at the wheel is Governor Gavin Newsom.\u00a0 Newsom has been eager to portray himself as Donald Trump\u2019s nemesis, but Newsom has followed Trump\u2019s lead when it comes to worker health and safety.<\/p>\n<p>Newsom has allowed and encouraged Cal\/OSHA\u2019 s budget problems to fester. I <a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/04\/21\/the-sad-decline-in-cal-oshas-worker-protection\/\">wrote<\/a> about this problem earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>More than a third of the field inspector positions have been vacant during Newsom\u2019s second term, and Newsom has proposed cuts to Cal\/OSHA\u2019s enforcement budget in each of the last three state fiscal years. These cuts come even though Cal\/OSHA funding does not come out of taxes, but from a fund generated by fees on employers which has been running annual surpluses between $130 and $200 million during the same period.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">It appears that presidential candidate Newsom is anxious to show his corporate campaign contributors that they have nothing to fear from him, that he is willing to throw worker health and safety under the bus along with the best of them, including Trump.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It appears that presidential candidate Newsom is anxious to show his corporate campaign contributors that they have nothing to fear from him, that he is willing to throw worker health and safety under the bus along with the best of them, including Trump.<\/p>\n<p>In three months, California will have a new Governor.\u00a0 It is unknown what the new governor\u2019s approach will be to protecting California workers\u2019 health and safety in 2027, and whether the DOSH leadership responsible for the management failures revealed by the <em>Sacramento Bee<\/em> series will be held to account.<\/p>\n<p>The change in administration in Sacramento is an opportunity to deal with the years-long crisis in inspector understaffing, underfunding of enforcement activities, and under-performance in meeting Cal\/OSHA\u2019s mandate and mission.\u00a0 The health, safety, and welfare of California workers depends on accountability, transparency, and a change of leadership at Cal\/OSHA in the new year.<\/p>\n<p>The four <em>Sacramento Bee <\/em>articles are attached, as well as a recent article on Cal\/OSHA\u2019s understaffing, underfunding, and performance declines:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/How-as-CA-whistleblower-was-probed-and-cleared-by-his-agency-_-Sacramento-Bee.pdf\">How as CA whistleblower was probed and cleared by his agency _ Sacramento Bee<\/a>, August 24, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CA-agency-tapped-workers-comp-fund-to-investigate-its-staff-_-Sacramento-Bee.pdf\">CA agency tapped workers\u2019 comp fund to investigate its staff _ Sacramento Bee<\/a>, August 24, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Cal-OSHA-official-has-record-of-abuse-workplace-violations-_-Sacramento-Bee.pdf\">Cal-OSHA official has record of abuse, workplace violations _ Sacramento Bee<\/a>, October 8, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Why-does-Cal-OSHA-keep-district-manager-accused-of-misconduct_-_-Sacramento-Bee.pdf\">Why does Cal-OSHA keep district manager accused of misconduct_ _ Sacramento Bee<\/a>, October 8, 2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Newsom-follows-Trumps-lead-Against-the-Current-Sept-Oct-2026.pdf\">Newsom follows Trump&#8217;s lead &#8211; Against the Current &#8211; Sept-Oct 2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discussing California\u2019s OSHA program (Cal\/OSHA) tend to be a game of \u201cBest of times, worst of times.\u201d The state\u2019s OSHA program is often praised for its issuance of OSHA standards that federal OSHA has failed to issue. These include standards covering airborne infectious diseases, ergonomics, heat, workplace violence and an improved Process Safety Management standard [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":14527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-14516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state-plans","tag-california"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA - Confined Space<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cal\/OSHA has great standards, but the budget and operation of the organization are rife with malfeasance and corruption.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA - Confined Space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cal\/OSHA has great standards, but the budget and operation of the organization are rife with malfeasance and corruption.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Confined Space\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-19T11:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Garrett Brown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jbarab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@jbarab\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Garrett Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Garrett Brown\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7988d07de20cf053d4d265ef240f0d5f\"},\"headline\":\"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\\\/OSHA\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-19T11:36:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1468,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"California\"],\"articleSection\":[\"State Plan States\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\\\/OSHA - Confined Space\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-19T11:36:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Cal\\\/OSHA has great standards, but the budget and operation of the organization are rife with malfeasance and corruption.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365,\"caption\":\"Cal\\\/OSHA\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/19\\\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\\\/OSHA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/\",\"name\":\"Confined Space\",\"description\":\"A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5\",\"name\":\"Jordan Barab\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":267,\"caption\":\"Jordan Barab\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg\"},\"description\":\"Jordan Barab was OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary from 2009-2017. He ran AFSCME's health &amp; safety program from 1982-98. He also worked at the House Education and &amp; Labor Committee (2007-2009, 2019-2021) and the Chemical Safety Board.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/jordan-barab-81b0218\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jbarab\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7988d07de20cf053d4d265ef240f0d5f\",\"name\":\"Garrett Brown\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/54391cad149fc332448b3945abfe9aff1215313aadff2657f367c9e51c2227b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/54391cad149fc332448b3945abfe9aff1215313aadff2657f367c9e51c2227b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/54391cad149fc332448b3945abfe9aff1215313aadff2657f367c9e51c2227b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Garrett Brown\"},\"description\":\"Garrett Brown worked for Cal\\\/OSHA for more than 20 years as a field compliance officer and later as Special Assistant to the Chief of Cal\\\/OSHA in Headquarters. He currently teaches occupational health and safety courses at UC Berkeley\u2019s School of Public Health.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jordanbarab.com\\\/confinedspace\\\/author\\\/gbriwb\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA - Confined Space","description":"Cal\/OSHA has great standards, but the budget and operation of the organization are rife with malfeasance and corruption.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA - Confined Space","og_description":"Cal\/OSHA has great standards, but the budget and operation of the organization are rife with malfeasance and corruption.","og_url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/","og_site_name":"Confined Space","article_published_time":"2026-10-19T11:36:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Garrett Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jbarab","twitter_site":"@jbarab","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Garrett Brown","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/"},"author":{"name":"Garrett Brown","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/7988d07de20cf053d4d265ef240f0d5f"},"headline":"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA","datePublished":"2026-10-19T11:36:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/"},"wordCount":1468,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg","keywords":["California"],"articleSection":["State Plan States"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/","name":"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA - Confined Space","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg","datePublished":"2026-10-19T11:36:00+00:00","description":"Cal\/OSHA has great standards, but the budget and operation of the organization are rife with malfeasance and corruption.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365,"caption":"Cal\/OSHA"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/10\/19\/sacramento-bee-investigative-series-documents-shocking-management-failures-at-cal-osha\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sacramento Bee investigative series documents shocking management failures at Cal\/OSHA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/","name":"Confined Space","description":"A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/bcc6bf185c17840824cfc3ef7522f3c5","name":"Jordan Barab","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg","width":400,"height":267,"caption":"Jordan Barab"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/21009251506_93991fca44_w.jpg"},"description":"Jordan Barab was OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary from 2009-2017. He ran AFSCME's health &amp; safety program from 1982-98. He also worked at the House Education and &amp; Labor Committee (2007-2009, 2019-2021) and the Chemical Safety Board.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jordan-barab-81b0218\/","https:\/\/x.com\/jbarab"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/#\/schema\/person\/7988d07de20cf053d4d265ef240f0d5f","name":"Garrett Brown","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54391cad149fc332448b3945abfe9aff1215313aadff2657f367c9e51c2227b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54391cad149fc332448b3945abfe9aff1215313aadff2657f367c9e51c2227b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/54391cad149fc332448b3945abfe9aff1215313aadff2657f367c9e51c2227b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Garrett Brown"},"description":"Garrett Brown worked for Cal\/OSHA for more than 20 years as a field compliance officer and later as Special Assistant to the Chief of Cal\/OSHA in Headquarters. He currently teaches occupational health and safety courses at UC Berkeley\u2019s School of Public Health.","url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/author\/gbriwb\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8s1ZU-3M8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/53295742116_263feaa9ad_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14516"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14518,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14516\/revisions\/14518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}