Cal/OSHA Creating Advisory Panel to Develop Regs for Adult Filmmaking, FSC Says

LOS ANGELES — Cal/OSHA will create a new advisory committee to help shape new regulations for the adult industry, according to the Free Speech Coalition.

An advisory committee, which would ostensibly include working adult performers, the FSC said, is a significant shift away from the “historically adversarial approach” taken by Cal/OSHA toward the adult industry.

At this month’s meeting of the Standards Board, a Cal/OSHA rep said that it had already reviewed a petition for regulation from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and expected to complete its review of a separate petition submitted by the Free Speech Coalition by early July, said Karen Tynan, an attorney for the adult industry specializing in employment and workplace safety.  

Once both reviews are complete, Cal/OSHA said it would begin to assemble the advisory committee, Tynan said.

“We can hope to see announcements for an advisory committee later this summer, and we are hopeful that this represents a new era wherein performers and those working on adult film sets are recognized as true stakeholders,” Tynan said.

“Effective regulation can only come when performers and other industry workers have a voice in the development of the regulations that affect them.”

In February, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board declined to adopt restrictive regulations drafted by the Cal/OSHA, which would have required not only condoms, but dental dams and goggles for all adult performers while abandoning the present health protocols and strict testing regimen.

At a hearing for the regulations in Oakland, Calif., performers testified for six hours, with many performers protesting that they had been denied a voice in regulations that affect them. 

At the conclusion of the hearing, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board reprimanded Cal/OSHA’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health for failing to work with adult performers when drafting regulations.

The formation of the advisory committee is expected to begin after Cal/OSHA finishes its review of the FSC petition on July 9, Tynan said.