CA AB2488

Requires the Department of Industrial Relations to contract with UC Berkeley and UCLA labor health programs to study understaffing and vacancies within the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and recommend career pathway policies for Compliance Safety and Health Officers

California's inspector-to-worker ratio is 1:120,102, compared to 1:26,000 in Washington and 1:24,000 in Oregon; the enforcement division has a 42.5% vacancy rate with eight regional offices exceeding 50% vacancies as of November 2024

Only 10 Compliance Safety and Health Officers statewide are certified bilingual, while 5 million of California's 19 million workers speak languages other than English

Study must analyze causes of vacancies, evaluate workforce development models including apprenticeship programs, and identify external workforce populations with relevant skills and linguistic competencies

Report due 18 months after contract execution, to be posted online and submitted to the Governor and relevant legislative committees; implementation contingent on legislative appropriation