So how much potassium does an almond or pistachio orchard need? How and when should it be applied? Watch this brief interview with UCCE Orchard Systems Advisor Phoebe Gordon as she shares some facts and considerations for growers to maintain a healthy orchard and prevent potassium deficiencies. Read more about best practices for orchard management in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Trece for their industry support.
[btn btnlink=”https://malcolmmedia.com/order-a-back-issue/back-issue-pacific-nut-producer-magazine/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” color=”#FFF” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″]Order A Back Issue[/btn]
[btn btnlink=”http://malcolmmedia.com/pacific-nut-producer-magazine-subscriptions/” btnsize=”full” txtcolor=”#ffffff” bgcolor=”#492500″ btnnewt=”1″ nofollow=”1″]Subscribe Free[/btn]
[three_fifth_last]
[/three_fifth_last]
Winter sanitation is a critical step in your Navel Orangeworm IPM programs. But when should you start and is it enough just to shake those mummy nuts off of the trees? Watch this interview with Bob Klein from the California Pistachio Research Board as he shares some key insights growers should consider when approaching winter sanitation and read about it in Pacific Nut Producer Magazine.
The California Superior Court in Sacramento has ruled the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) does not cover insects and that bees cannot be classified as fish. The Court issued its final ruling on Nov. 19, 2020.
The Almond Alliance of California, in collaboration with seven other agricultural groups, filed suit with California Fish and Game Commission in response to a vote to grant candidacy status to four subspecies of bumble bees under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
The California almond industry recognizes that pollinators are integral to many natural habitats and are crucial for the production success of our industry. The Almond Alliance of California is pleased with the ruling and reiterates that the California almond industry continues to be committed to protecting the health and well-being of bees.
Ruling in Almond Alliance of California v. California Fish and Game Commission, Judge James P. Arguelles agreed with a group of petitioners including the Almond Alliance of California. The petitioners argued that the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) was not authorized by the CESA to give four species of bumble bees candidate-species status because the California Legislature was clear in the CESA that insects were not protected.
The Commission and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife unsuccessfully argued that bees and other insects and invertebrates are covered under the CESA because “invertebrates” are included within the definition of “fish” in Section 45 of the Fish and Game Code (FGC).
The case follows a 2018 petition from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Center for Food Safety to the Commission to add the four bumble bee species to the list of endangered species under the CESA. The four species of bumble bee were the Crotch, Franklin’s, Suckley cuckoo, and Western bumble bee. The bumble bees became candidate species, meaning “a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile or plant that the Commission has formally noticed as being under review”, when the Commission accepted the petition in June 2019. The court’s Thursday ruling set aside the Commission’s decision.
The Almond Alliance in conjunction with our trade organization partners argued that this consideration is not justified based on the following facts:
If listed under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), the bees would have been the first insects added. Pesticide restrictions, grazing rules, and other habitat protections could then be imposed. While the bees are “candidates” for listing, they have the same protections as species listed as threatened or endangered. This means prohibitions on killing them, which the Department of Fish and Wildlife routinely interprets to extend to harm to the bees or their habitat. That could lead to uncertainty if bumble bees are present on fields or in other areas where agriculture is happening. This type of ambiguity would be disruptive to the almond industry. For example, ripping or other soil movement could be claimed to disturb potential nesting sites. The petitioners specifically list honey bees as a threat to the bumble bees, thus a listing could regulate placement of or reduce the number of honey bee hives. Listing bumble bees as threatened or endangered is setting the stage for how other insect pollinators will be defined, regulated, and protected.The Almond Alliance thanks Nossaman, LLP for effectively representing the coalition and appreciates those in our industry who contributed to the legal fund to support this effort.
Weeds can be a significant problem in berries, tree fruits, tree nuts, and vine crops (e.g. grapes, hops, etc.) especially after transplanting and during flowering and fruit and nut set. Herbicides are a primary tool for managing weeds, even though the evolution of herbicide resistance has limited the utility of many products and off-target movement can sometimes result in damage to trunks, shoots, leaves and flowers. Many growers are transitioning to organic systems to address changes in consumer preferences or satisfy the requirements set in place to enter export markets.
Perennial cropping systems are exploring technologies such as automated harvesters and pruners, to reduce labor demands, and canopy sensing sprayers, to minimize the amounts of crop protection chemicals applied to shrubs, trees, and vines. Novel weed control tools that eliminate or reduce the need for herbicides are actively being developed for and marketed in the agriculture and horticulture industries. These new technologies could begin to play and increasingly large role in future crop production, particularly in high-value specialty crops that 1) have limited herbicide options, 2) are sensitive to herbicide injury, and 3) are heavily reliant on a labor market that is simultaneously growing more scarce and more expensive.
A team of weed scientists from UC Davis, Oregon State University, and Cornell are asking berry, tree fruit, tree nut, and vine crop growers to take 5 to 10 minutes and answer this short and anonymous survey (link below) about your current weed management practices and your interest in novel technologies, like vision-guided sprayers and cultivators, and electric, steam, and pressurized water weeders. This will help us plan research and extension projects that will address stakeholder concerns regarding the future of weed management.
There’s always a chance that we forgot to include some amazing tools that are emerging on the horizon; please feel free to e-mail Lynn Sosnoskie at lms438@cornell.edu and let her know what you think the future of weed control will look like.
Thanks for your time. We appreciate your support of weed science research.
Survey link: https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bEpfAijoP7puQDP
Halloween will come and go, but mummy nuts are here to stay… unless you shake them away!
To help remind growers to break the link between mummy nuts and overwintering navel orangeworm (NOW), the Almond Board of California (ABC) created a parody song that’s sure to be an “orchard smash,” just in time for the most spooky holiday of the year. It’s The Mummy Shake — listen now (lyrics here) and submit a video of your family dancing along to this “orchard smash” for a chance to win a $500 Amazon gift card!
How to Enter: Video Specifications
How to Upload Your Video
Read on below for complete contest eligibility guidelines.
Mummy Shake Video Contest – OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MAKING A PURCHASE OR CONTRIBUTION WILL NOT IMPROVE CHANCE OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
1. Preliminary Information and Contest Period: The Mummy Shake Video Contest (Campaign) is open for entries starting October 26, 2020 at 12:01AM Daylight Pacific Time (PT). All entries must be submitted by the contest deadline: 11:59PM PT on November 20, 2020 (Contest deadline). Campaign is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. This Campaign is sponsored by the Almond Board of California (Sponsor), 1150 9th St. #1500, Modesto, CA 95354.
2. Agreement to Rules: By participating, the Contestant agrees to be fully and unconditionally bound by these Rules and decision of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding. Contestant represents and warrants that they meet the eligibility requirements. In addition, Contestant agrees to accept the decisions of Sponsor as final and binding as it relates to the content of this Campaign.
3. Eligibility: Contestant may enter to win if he or she is a legal resident of the state of California, age 18 or older at the time of entry, and is a member of the California almond industry, which includes growers, handlers, hullers/shellers and allied industry members. Contestant’s submission may include family member and/or friend of a Contestant provided that such family member or friend consents to being featured in the submission. If Contestant chooses to feature his or her children under the age of 18 in his/her submission, Contestant grants Sponsor permission to display, broadcast and/or share video for promotional purposes of this Campaign or future Campaigns. Employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives and their immediate families (parents, children, siblings, spouse and each of their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or members of the households of the Almond Board of California/Sponsor, their parent companies, subsidiaries, agencies and anyone connected with the production and distribution of this Campaign may submit an entry for use by Sponsor solely to promote the Campaign, but are not eligible to win or be awarded a prize.
4. How to Enter: To enter, Contestants must create a video featuring themselves and/or family or friends dancing to the Almond Board of California’s “Mummy Shake” song, in an almond orchard or another setting of their choosing. Entry videos must be at least 30 seconds in length (approximately one verse and one chorus) and up to the duration of the full song. Entries will be judged based on enthusiasm, creativity, and composition. Judges will be comprised of employees of the Almond Board of California. Submit your video entry in one of two ways:
Multiple entries per person or household will be accepted and judged, but only one (1) prize will be awarded per person or household. Entries that are incomplete or that contain errors, copyrighted images or inappropriate/derogatory/defamatory images or language, dogs in the orchard, guns/firearms, nudity, violence or profanity will be automatically disqualified in Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, altered or destroyed entries. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received and/or the number of contestants participating in the contest. If Contestant uses fraudulent methods or otherwise attempts to circumvent the rules, the submission may be removed from eligibility at the sole discretion of Sponsor. The Contestant may be asked to provide all appropriate clearances, permissions and releases for the submission.
All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. Proof of sending will not be deemed proof of receipt by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to edit or summarize the submission or any written description or picture prior to posting to Sponsor’s website and/or social media channels.
5. Prize: The Winner of the Campaign (“Winner”) will receive a Grand Prize consisting of a $500 Amazon gift card.
The prize will be sent to Winner’s provided email address within two (2) weeks of notification. Any applicable Federal, State or Local taxes are solely the responsibility of the winner and paying any expenses associated with any prize which are not expressly included as part of the prize. Prizes are not transferable. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize package with another prize of equal or greater value if advertised prize or any component thereof is not available.
6. Winner Selection and Notification: Winner will be selected under the supervision of the Sponsor. Winner will be notified by email or by direct message on Facebook within five Sponsor business (5) days following selection of Winner. Sponsor shall have no liability for Winner’s failure to receive notices due to spam, junk email, or other security settings or for Winner’s provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information. If Winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim the prize within seven (7) Sponsor business days from the time award notification was sent, or fails to timely return a completed and executed declaration and release as required, the prize may be forfeited, and an alternate Winner selected. Receipt by Winner of the prize offered in this Campaign is conditioned upon compliance with any and all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Any violation of these official rules by winner (at Sponsor’s sole discretion) will result in Winner’s disqualification as Winner of the Campaign, and all privileges as Winner will be immediately terminated.
7. Rights Granted by Contestant: By entering this Campaign, Contestant understands and agrees that Sponsor, anyone acting on behalf of Sponsor, and Sponsor’s licensees, successors, and assigns, shall have the right, where permitted by law, to print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use in any media now known or hereafter developed, in perpetuity and throughout the World, without limitation, Contestant’s entry, name, portrait, picture, voice, likeness, image, statements about the Campaign, and biographical information for news, publicity, information, trade, advertising, public relations, and promotional purposes, without any further compensation, notice, review, or consent. By entering this Campaign, Contestant represents and warrants that entry is an original work of authorship and does not violate any third party’s proprietary or intellectual property rights or right of publicity. If entry infringes upon the right of any third party including, without limitation, any intellectual property right or right of publicity, Contestant will be disqualified at the sole discretion of Sponsor. If the content of the entry is claimed to constitute infringement of any proprietary or intellectual proprietary rights or right of publicity of any third party, Contestant shall, at his or her sole expense, defend or settle against such claims. Contestant shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Sponsor from and against any suit, proceeding, claims, liability, loss, damage, costs or expense (including attorneys’ fees), which Sponsor may incur, suffer, or be required to pay arising out of such infringement or suspected infringement of any third party’s right.
8. Terms & Conditions: Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Campaign should virus, bug, non-authorized human intervention, fraud, or other cause beyond Sponsor’s control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, or proper conduct of the Campaign. In such case, Sponsor may select the Winner from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Campaign or website or violates these Terms & Conditions. Sponsor has the right, in its sole discretion, to maintain the integrity of the Campaign, to void entries for any reason. Any attempt by a Contestant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Campaign may be a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law.
9. Limitation of Liability: By entering, Contestant agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim, or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from: (i) such Contestant’s participation in the Campaign and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof; (ii) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunction of any computer, cable, network, hardware, or software, or other mechanical equipment; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions, telephone, or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; (v) electronic or human error in the administration of the Promotion or the processing of entries.
10. Disputes: This Campaign is governed by the laws of the United States of America and California, without respect to conflict of law doctrines. As a condition of participating in this Campaign, participant agrees that any and all disputes that cannot be resolved between the parties and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Campaign, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in California having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances shall participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to, punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering this Campaign). Participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.
11. Privacy Policy: Information submitted with an entry is subject to the Privacy Policy stated on the Sponsor’s website. To read the Privacy Policy, click here.
In California, fungal canker diseases have long been known to affect almond trees. However, they have become an increasing concern to growers in recent years as they are affecting a greater extent of young trees, eventually resulting in significant tree losses. Canker diseases can also become prevalent in mature orchards, impacting yield, the lifespan of trees, production costs and overall profitability of almond orchards. Ultimately, trunk and scaffold canker diseases constitute a major cause of tree death and branch dieback in California almond orchards.
As the University of California (UC) Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist in Plant Pathology for fruit and nut crops when I receive calls from farm advisors, almond growers and Pest Control Advisers (PCAs) the questions they most frequently have are in relation to canker diseases, asking how can it be diagnosed, and how can it be treated.
Symptoms on affected trees are very conspicuous and often alarming to growers. Moreover, field diagnosis of canker diseases is difficult as symptom delineation among the various canker diseases is not clear. Hence, laboratory tests are usually required to obtain accurate disease diagnosis, which is essential to the implementation of appropriate management strategies.
With support from the Almond Board of California (ABC) and with the help of farm advisors, my laboratory conducted statewide surveys to characterize canker diseases in almond orchards and to get a thorough understanding of the main diseases and pathogens present. This work has provided molecular tools and a database for the accurate identification of fungi commonly isolated from almond cankers.
This article will provide an overview of the main canker diseases that impact almond trees and how they can be recognized. But first, let’s review some general concepts about canker diseases.
What is a canker?
A canker in woody plants generally refers to a lesion produced in the bark of a plant’s stem, twig, or branch, often resulting in a dead area that can block water and nutrient transport to portions of the tree, thus causing parts of the plant to die back. Most cankers are caused by fungi, which invade bark tissue and the current season’s wood. However, some fungi colonize in both bark and internal wood tissue, causing canker rot or wood cankers that persist for years.
Wood cankers typically consist of brown-to-dark brown discoloration of xylem tissues and may vary in shape from wedge-shaped to round, or irregular.
What are the main infection pathways and disease cycles of canker diseases?
In orchard systems, cankers usually originate around wounds such as pruning wounds, mechanical injuries, sunscald and sunburn lesions, as well as wounds caused by insect borers. In almonds, canker pathogens infect trees mainly through pruning wounds made for primary and secondary scaffold selection to provide the general structure of trees. Cracks in the tree crotch or on the trunk as well as shaker injuries provide other entry points for canker-causing pathogens in almonds. Canker diseases may go unnoticed during the early stages of infection, though symptoms become more visible as the trees age.
Most fungal canker pathogens produce fruiting bodies on dead wood of infected host plants. The spores produced by these fruiting bodies serve as inoculum for new infections, mostly during wet weather. The vegetation present in the vicinity of orchards, particularly trees in riparian areas or neighboring orchards of susceptible crops, may serve as inoculum sources for fungal canker pathogens affecting almonds. Once a canker disease has been established in an orchard, infected almond trees can provide additional inoculum for further infection.
Does stress play a role in the exacerbation of canker disease?
Recent outbreaks of canker diseases in perennial crops have been attributed in part to drastic changes in production practices, climate change and increased plant stress, the continuing adaptation of pathogens to new environments, and, most importantly, the global movement of plant material. Ultimately, though, trees suffering environmental stresses are more susceptible to canker diseases.
Microorganisms that usually do not cause disease in non-stressed hosts may become opportunistic pathogens of stressed plants. Increases in canker diseases are common during extended periods of drought or following sudden temperature fluctuations. Drought stress can also impair the plant’s ability to defend against fungal invasion. Conversely, excessive watering can kill roots and predispose plants to canker pathogens.
What are the main canker diseases in California almonds, and what are their symptoms?
Ceratocystis canker
Ceratocystis canker, caused by the fungal pathogen Ceratocystis destructans (formerly known as Ceratocystis fimbriata), is one of the most prevalent canker diseases in California almonds – it occurs statewide in all almond producing counties. While this disease is generally associated with shaker damage and bark injuries on trunks during harvest, C. destructans is also capable of infecting branches from fresh pruning wounds and if left untreated can kill branches, scaffolds and entire trees. Ceratocystis is spread by several species of sap-feeding beetles and fruit flies.
Ceratocystis canker starts as water-soaked injuries that are darker than the surrounding healthy tissue. Symptoms of established infections include amber-colored gumballs that are produced around the margin of the canker, where the fungus is most active. The cankers are perennial, persist over several years, and are most active during the growing season. Young trees infected with Ceratocystis canker may die rapidly while infections in older trees usually progress slowly.
Band canker and other Botryosphaeriaceae cankers
Although band canker was first reported years ago as a disease in almonds, it’s appearance had been very sporadic up until the last decade, when this disease was suddenly being reported in large numbers of commercial orchards and causing severe damage.
Band canker produces unique symptoms that include oozing amber sap that forms in a ring around the circumference of the tree. Young, vigorous varieties that grow quickly from aggressive nitrogen and water inputs are especially prone to band canker. Solid sprinkler irrigation or micro-sprinklers that wet the tree trunk can create conditions favorable for infection.
Band canker is often an annual disease that occurs when trees are in their second-to-fifth leaf and usually does not necessarily reappear the following year. However, an increasing number of cases have been reported lately where cankers are being re-activated in following year. Tree death due to band canker has become more common as multiple bands can develop as the canker continues to grow from one growing season to the next.
Botryosphaeriaceae cankers are characterized also by gumming around pruning wounds made near the trunk or in main scaffold branches. Band canker and Botryosphaeriaceae cankers are particularly common in young almond orchards in the northern San Joaquin Valley and well as in the Sacramento Valley.
Infections by Botryosphaeriaceae fungi are usually associated with growth cracks or pruning wounds on the trunk and main scaffold branches. Studies have revealed there are at least 12 different Botryosphaeriaceae species in almonds, each with various levels of virulence. Among them, Neofusicoccum species, including N. parvum and N. mediterraneum, are the most common in California. Neoscytalidium dimidiatum also occurs frequently in cankers developing around pruning wounds on the trunk. This pathogen also can cause shoot blight and fruit rot in almonds.
Eutypa dieback
Eutypa dieback in almonds occurs sporadically in the Sacramento Valley and in the northern San Joachim Valley. Eutypa dieback is caused by the fungus Eutypa lata and is a common disease in apricots, sweet cherries and grapevines. Eutypa dieback in almonds is usually found in young trees.
Cankers mostly originate from pruning wounds on limbs or trunks as well as from cracks formed at the junction of scaffold branches and the trunk, extending downward toward the graft union or upwards into one or more scaffold branches. Amber-colored gum turning dark brown to reddish brown normally exudes around the cracks. Irregular-shaped to wedge-shaped, brown-colored cankers are observed from cross sections of limbs and trunks.
Limb dieback may occur several months or years after infection. The fungal fruiting bodies, i.e. the perithecia of E. lata. are rare in almond orchards, suggesting sources of inoculum for this disease most likely originate from surrounding susceptible hosts including apricot and grapevine as well as natural host plants in riparian areas such as willows.
Cytospora cankers
Cytospora species have been isolated sporadically in almond orchards in California, Cytospora canker is generally associated with pruning wounds in the branches of third-leaf trees or older. At least five species of Cytospora have been associated with cankers in California almonds. Symptoms of Cytospora canker include longitudinal cankers in branches and scaffolds often associated with pruning wounds, vascular discoloration of the wood and moderate gumming.
Cytospora species have been traditionally thought to be secondary to sunburn and other stresses or injury in stone fruits. However, their prevalence in cankers together with pathogenicity studies suggest that this group of fungi constitutes virulent pathogens. Overall, Cytospora pathogens are of increasing concern in recent years in many fruit and nut crops in California.— By Florent P. Trouillas (Through the Almond Board of California), Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis
Stay tuned for a follow-up article from Trouillas on how growers can manage different types of canker diseases in their orchards. Growers are also encouraged to check out the Univeristy of California IPM website for more information on various types of canker diseases.
COVID-19 is a health crisis in the United States but major industries, like agriculture, chemical manufacturing, oil and gas exploration and production, all need to keep functioning as essential businesses in the midst of the crisis. The response to COVID-19 has core parallels to major industrial accident response, which involves deploying the right resources for the task. Every incident, be it a fire, explosion, or a government inspection and citation for regulatory compliance failures involves four key elements of response: (1) the immediate response; (2) the extended response; (3) compliance and prevention; and (4) preparedness/lessons learned to improve. This lifecycle of an incident applies equally to a COVID-19 contact among your employees or customers. Make no mistake. The stakes are high. Recently, Cal/OSHA issued COVID-19 related citations to two companies of over $200,000 each, one to a frozen food manufacturer and the other to a temporary employment agency. New legislation that becomes effective next year gives Cal/OSHA expanded authority to issue Orders Prohibiting Use for workplaces that pose risk of an “imminent hazard” relating to COVID-19. In other words, they can shut your plant down if you don’t have the right procedures in place to respond to a COVID-19 incident.
Processing plant managers are accustomed to incidents, such as injuries, agency inspections, or citations (hopefully not too frequently with respect to citations); applying the process in the context of COVID-19 can work extremely well, even where handling these situations requires adjustment for the particular crisis at hand. In every crisis, the approach needs to be tailored, and COVID-19 incidents are no different.
Examples of how a COVID-19 response needs to be tailored include determining work-relatedness to a positive test to COVID-19, identifying close contacts, identifying the agencies to whom notifications must be provided, and contact tracing for potentially exposed employees, testing, and implementing isolation protocols. In the context of COVID-19, agriculture companies need to be keenly aware of increased Cal/OSHA oversight, as the agency has identified agricultural processing as a priority for enforcement because agricultural processing facility workers have been disproportionately impacted.
When confronting a COVID-19 incident, follow these useful tips to help minimize liability and potential for citation by the government.
There’s a saying in incident response: your greatest exposure is not the incident itself but whether you follow the regulations for reporting and responding to the incident. That’s true for a major chemical release from your operations and a COVID-19 incident, alike. When the crisis emerged, several federal and state agencies provided guidance documents to companies on how to address potential cases of COVID-19. Like the crisis, the guidance is evolving. The government continues to update its approach and has even offered tailored to specific industries. Following the agency guidance will put a facility in a much stronger compliance position when faced with a compliance inspection or determination of work-relatedness.
Some key recent government guidance specific to the agricultural processing industry is listed below:
Understand requirements for reporting employee cases to Cal/OSHA. Any serious injury, illness, or death occurring in any place of employment or in connection with any employment must be reported by the employer to the local Cal/OSHA district office immediately. For COVID-19, this includes inpatient hospitalizations and deaths among employees.
On September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom also signed into law AB 685 which enhances reporting requirements to local health authorities in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak in the worksite. The law takes effect on January 1, 2021.
Employers should also check local guidance to determine if there are other investigation, reporting, or recording obligations triggered by a positive COVID-19 case.
Finally, recognize that if an employee is out with COVID-19 or quarantined, other government obligations, like environmental reporting may fall by the wayside in their absence. Develop a plan to ensure your ongoing government reporting obligations are being met, even those not COVID-19-related. Having an employee out due to COVID-19 is likely not going to serve as an acceptable excuse for environmental noncompliance.
To comply with Cal/OSHA requirements, plant managers should ensure their companies are investigating positive COVID-19 determinations in a timely manner to identify any work-related factors and to identify close contacts. This will protect employees, comply with Cal/OSHA requirements, and provide information that may be needed to in regards to the “disputable presumption” that exists in California for an employee who suffers illness or death resulting from COVID-19 on or after July 6, 2020 through January 1, 2023.
COVID-19 related citations recently issued by Cal/OSHA included a failure to investigate about 20 COVID-19 illnesses and one death for a food manufacturer. Cal/OSHA’s news release highlighted that Cal/OSHA created guidance for many industries in multiple languages including videos, daily checklists and detailed guidelines on how to protect workers from the virus. This guidance is meant to provide a roadmap for employers on their existing obligations to protect workers from COVID-19. If you don’t conduct required investigations, you will be placing your company at risk of being shut down through Cal/OSHA’s expanded authority to issue Orders Prohibiting Use for workplaces that pose a risks of an “imminent hazard” relating to COVID-19.
As part of the investigation, additional employee cases and close contacts (within six feet for fifteen minutes or more) should be identified in accordance with the regulations and guidance. The facility will then need to conduct testing or alternative methods (e.g., contact tracing or quarantining) in consultation with the local health department to control the outbreak.
All potentially exposed employees must be notified and employers must meet obligations regarding confidentiality of employees with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”).
In the July 29, 2020 COVID-19 Guidance for agriculture and livestock, the state of California recommended that each facility establish a written, workplace-specific COVID-19 prevention plan, perform a comprehensive risk assessment of all work areas and work tasks, and designate a person at each facility to implement the plan. The plan should include sanitation practices, physical distancing, individual control measures, screening, and other incidental practices to prevent the spread amongst workers. Upon completion of the incident investigation, the facility should update the plan as needed to prevent further cases.
Conclusion
COVID-19 presents unique challenges to processing plant managers responding to incidents because of the difficulty in determining the source of infection, agency notification and attention, contact tracing, employee notification, testing, control measures, and return to work. Like any incident, COVID-19 incident response should focus on: (1) the immediate response by making required agency notifications and dealing with the immediate employee concerns including contact tracing; (2) the extended response by conducting an incident investigation; (3) compliance and prevention by conducting testing or implement isolation protocols; and (4) preparedness/lessons learned to improve by reviewing and updating the facility COVID-19 plan. Processing plant managers who work quickly and diligently to respond to a COVID-19 incident will reap the benefit of minimizing regulatory scrutiny protecting employees and comply with legal reporting and notification requirements. They should also regularly check local, state, and federal guidance to determine if there are new or revised investigation, reporting, or recording obligations triggered by a positive COVID-19. – By Daniel J. Grucza & Shannon S. Broome
Dan Grucza is Counsel with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. He regularly advises companies on health and safety issues and has been a speaker and author on COVID-19 response issues and is a lead member of the firm’s incident response practice.
Shannon S. Broome is the Managing Partner of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s San Francisco office and leads its environmental practice in California. She routinely advises clients on Cal/OSHA compliance issues and on major accident and other incident response for industrial facilities.