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Short Tailgate Safety Meeting Topics for California

The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulates safety for workers in the United States. Individual states are encouraged by OSHA to develop their own safety and health programs, of which OSHA must approve and monitor.

California is one of the 27 states that has its own state OSHA department, which is commonly called Cal/OSHA. Short tailgate safety meetings can address any OSHA topic from the federal or state regulations.

  1. New or Revised Regulations

    • The Department of Industrial Relations of California OSHA website provides an index listing topics for safety professionals to find easily. New regulations are marked with a red oval containing the word "new." A standard released in 2010 is entitled, "Cal-OSHA Influenza Guidance." The revisions to previous influenza regulations came about after the H1N1 virus became prevalent in 2009. To present this, or any other new regulation as a tailgate safety meeting, a supervisor or safety director can print the page directly from the website or make notes about how to prevent the spread of influenza to present to workers.

    Heat-Related Illness

    • Compliance Home, a regulatory compliance publication, warns employers that Cal/OSHA requires them to provide training to their workers about heat illness prevention. California was the first state to develop a heat-related illness regulation in 2005, with the final standard implemented in 2006. Important factors for supervisors and employees to know are the need for workers to become acclimated to the extreme heat when new to the job, the importance of hydration and the need for employers to provide a shady respite from the extreme outdoor heat. Persons presenting this regulation as a tailgate safety topic can print the sheet directly from the online publication or obtain further information from Cal/OSHA.

    Job-Specific Tailgate Meetings

    • A publication entitled "Tailgate/Toolbox Topics" is available for printing online from the Department of Industrial Relations of Cal/OSHA. The one-page sheet gives supervisors and safety directors some tips to holding these short training sessions.

      One job-specific idea is to address some compliance violations or potential injuries the meeting presenter sees at the moment. For example, workers may not be wearing their hard hats, safety glasses or other protective equipment that is required for their jobs or for the areas they are working in. The publication suggests that a supervisor ask employees why they are not wearing the proper protective equipment, why they are not using a tool or piece of machinery in the safest possible way, and other questions pertinent to the situation at hand. Industrial businesses, as well as construction sites, need to be monitored continuously for workers' attention to safety issues. California OSHA provides a pocket guide to safety for the construction industry, which also applies to many other types of jobs. Supervisors responsible for holding tailgate safety meetings can easily use the pocket guide to discuss a topic. The guides are available at Cal/OSHA District offices or can also be ordered online from the state's OSHA office.

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