Activists Protest Cal/OSHA Delays on Porn Safety Regulations

In News by AHF

PROTEST: Wednesday, November 5, 12 noon to 2 pm—Downtown L.A

Four adult film performers who became infected with HIV while working in the adult film industry since 2004 will join over 50 safer sex advocates, including other adult film performers, in the protest. 

On December 17, 2009, a petition to Cal/OSHA seeking to revise the state’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standards to better protect California porn workers was unanimously accepted by the Standards Board; since then, OSHA has delayed hearings or actions—most recently, until March 2015.

 

WHAT:         CONDOMS IN PORN PROTEST targeting Cal/OSHA for five-years of bureaucratic delay and inaction updating the state’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standards to better protect adult film workers and strengthen and clarify regulations on condom use in porn productions. Four Adult Film Actors Infected with HIV While Working in the Industry to Join Protest.              

WHEN:        WEDNESDAYNovember 5th 2014 —  12 noon to 2 p.m. Pacific                     

WHERE:      Cal/OSHA’s Downtown Los Angeles District Office building

                      320 W. 4th St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (OSHA in room 670; protest at street level)

WHO:

  • 2013—Cameron Adams (Stage name: Cameron Bay), who became HIV-positive while working in the adult film industry in August, 2013
  • 2013—Joshua Rodgers (Stage name: Rod Daily), who became HIV-positive while working in the adult film industry in August, 2013
  • 2010—Derrick Burts (Stage names: Cameron Reid, Derek Chambers), who became HIV-positive while working in the adult film industry in 2010
  • 2004—Darren Edwards (Stage name: Darren James), who became HIV-positive while working in the adult film industry in 2004
  • Tiffany Maples (Stage name: Hayden Winters)
  • Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, President
  • And 70 to 90 other safer sex advocates, including other adult film performers.

 

MEDIA NOTE: A few members of the group will deliver two (2) letters to OSHA officials on the sixth floor:

  • The original petition to OSHA dated December 17, 2009, which has NOT been acted on, and
  • letter from Nov. 3, 2014 to OSHA demanding accountability and action on the matter.

 

LOS ANGELES (November 4, 2014) Condom advocates—including four adult film performers who became infected with HIV while working in the adult film industry since 2004—will join over 50 safer sex advocates, including other adult film performers, in a boisterous protest in Downtown Los Angeles targeting Cal/OSHA (California’s Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health), the state’s health and safety regulatory and watchdog organization, for the agency’s repeated bureaucratic delays and inaction over the past five years on a petition seeking to update the state’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standards to better protect adult film workers and strengthen and clarify regulations regarding condom use in porn productions filmed anywhere in California.

On December 17, 2009, a petition filed by advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), with Cal/OSHA to amend California Code of Regulations Title 8 § 5193 was accepted unanimously by the Standards Board. Since then, however, OSHA has delayed most hearings and/or any meaningful action on the petition—most recently, with a delay until March 2015.

The protest, spearheaded by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), takes place Wednesday, November 5th from 12 noon until approximately 2:00 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of Cal/OSHA’s Region 4 District office, 320 W 4th St., Los Angeles CA 90013. In conjunction with the protest, a few members of the protest group will also deliver two (2) letters to OSHA District officials on the sixth floor, including:

  • The original petition to OSHA dated December 17, 2009, which has NOT been acted on, and
  • letter from Nov. 3, 2014 to OSHA demanding accountability and action on the matter.

On Thursday, November 6th, a similar protest targeting Cal/OSHA over its inaction on this petition to improve adult film worker safety will take place on the sidewalk in front of OSHA’s Region 1 District Office in OAKLAND (1515 Clay St., Suite 1303, Oakland, CA 94612) 12 noon to 2pm. A few members of that protest group will also deliver the two (2) letters to OSHA District officials.

“AHF’s original petition from 2009 seeks to provide specific protections for workers in the adult film industry, as these workers have been shown to carry a disproportionate disease burden,” saidMichael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The regularity of on-set exposure to infectious disease—including a multitude of sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, HPV, and herpes—is alarming, given that the adult film industry is a legal California industry.  Negating any ambiguity in OSHA regulations will have a real effect on the health of this particular group of California workers. We are fed up with OSHA’s bureaucratic delays and inaction over the past five years and are taking to the streets in Los Angeles and Oakland to demand accountability and action on this issue.”

In the November 3, 2014 letter to the Cal/OSHA Standards Board demanding action, Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Senior Director of Public Health for AIDS Healthcare Foundation wrote, “Although workers in adult films should enjoy protections under the current phrasing of the regulation, the adult film industry has steadfastly refused to take any steps to protect its workers from diseases spread by bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious material. This is an issue of last resort. It is time for the Standards Board to finish what was started five years ago.”

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