1. Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board

Petition File No. 608

Valley Voices

To amend Title 8 section 5199.1 Aerosol Transmissible Diseases - Zoonotic standard to protect dairy and poultry workers from aerosolized transmissible diseases such as H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) virus. The Petitioner specifically requests clarification that when there is an overlap between quarantined facilities and facilities with infected animals, the more stringent standards should apply. Additionally, Petitioner requests that it be required that employers: keep infected or exposed workers from the workplace until it is safe for them to return to work; provide exclusion pay; provide supplemental paid sick leave; and report any illness or symptom information reported by workers to the local health department, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Cal/OSHA. Lastly, the Petitioner requests both an emergency regulation to protect workers from H5N1 avian influenza and a permanent regulation to protect workers from infectious diseases.

The Petitioner states that as of March 19, 2025, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 70 reported human cases of bird flu in the United States, and CDPH has reported 38 cases in California, almost all linked to cattle as an exposure source. The Petitioner believes that the virus is much more widespread than the CDC’s official numbers suggest given that the pathogen has been detected in over 700 dairy herds in California, there have been no systematic inspections of dairies and recent blood test analysis involving 115 dairy workers revealed that 7% of those tested showed signs of previous bird flu infection. The Petitioner adds that dairy workers, who are mostly Latino, immigrant and undocumented low wage workers, are vulnerable to infection because during the milking process they can inhale airborne milk particles and milk droplets can splash into their eyes.

• Petition 608

April 2025