Things I don’t understand…
Why can’t they invent a shopping cart without one broken wheel? Why do we have to clean the house before the housekeeper arrives? Why does Trader Joe’s insist on packing individual pieces of fruit in plastic? Why does Cal OSHA prohibit employers from including Advil/Tylenol in first aid kits without specific physician authorization? Cal OSHA’s General Industry Safety Orders require that an employer’s first aid materials be “approved by [a] consulting physician” and that the approval must be in writing. See Cal-OSHA GISO § 3400(c). For instance, many employers include single-dose, over-the-counter medications (i.e. Tylenol or Advil) in their standard first aid kits. However, under Cal-OSHA’s Construction Safety Orders, if an employer has more than basic first aid equipment in its first aid kit (i.e., bandages), that additional equipment must be approved, in writing, by an employer-authorized licensed physician. “Materials” includes such things as antiseptics, eye irrigation solutions, and Advil/Tylenol. See Cal. Osh. CSO § 1512(c)(3). Apparently employees can be trusted with vehicles, equipment, power tools, and hazardous materials but without a specific physician authorization required by Cal OSHA they might overdose on Tylenol (how many single-dose packages does a typical First Aid kit hold?); blind themselves with saline solution; or somehow misuse a mild antiseptic (drink it, smoke it, use it as a weapon?). Arrogant over-regulation and all around waste of time. I’m going to go drown my sorrows by eating the four Tylenols in our (illegal) First Aid kit.