Quick Hits
- Newly proposed AB 2321 would require Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations to “timely notify” the local district attorney’s office of any case “in which there is a serious injury or death,” unless “the bureau determines there is legally insufficient evidence of a violation of the law.”
- The referral requirement applies to fatalities and cases of permanent total disability.
- The term “permanent total disability”—language borrowed from the state’s workers’ compensation system—is not a term typically utilized in the Cal/OSHA realm, so it is unclear how Cal/OSHA would make the determination for a referral.
- The law would set up a parallel system of investigation wherein the local district attorney would begin investigating accidents at the same time Cal/OSHA inspectors initiate typical workplace investigations.
If enacted as proposed, AB 2321 would adjust processes within the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health’s (Cal/OSHA) Bureau of Investigations and create a new investigatory procedure in California.
The bill would require Cal/OSHA to turn over accident reports and compiled investigation materials to local district attorneys’ offices. Additionally, the Cal/OSHA Bureau of Investigations would be required to establish written procedures for reviewing cases, determining and justifying any decision not to refer a case to a district attorney or not investigate an accident in which there is a serious injury or death, and additional procedures to refer non-fatal cases to the district attorney.
Next Steps
At present, the Assembly has not held a hearing, taken a vote, or conducted legislative analysis of AB 2321. The Committee on Labor and Employment will hold hearings on the bill in the month of April 2026.
Ogletree Deakins’ California offices and the firm’s Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group will closely monitor developments and provide updates on the California and Workplace Safety and Health blogs as additional information becomes available.
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