Division of Occupational Health and Safety plans to begin inspections this week, marking the first time Cal/OSHA has investigated the adult-film industry.
"You couldn't imagine a construction company sending a person to a work site without a hard hat, and nor should we think of someone in an adult-film industry production company working without a condom," said Peter Kerndt, director of the sexually transmitted disease program for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. "I look at this strictly as an employer-employee issue."
Monday afternoon, Kerndt, on behalf of the county, asked Cal/OSHA to investigate the production companies where Darren James and Lara Roxx, the two infected actors, have worked.
Also, Gard said, Cal/OSHA generally responds to complaints about workplace hazards, and so far no adult-film actors have filed complaints.
But now that the agency is getting involved, it has two main regulations that would apply to the porn industry: illness-prevention program requirements and the blood-borne pathogen standard, Gard said.
The illness-prevention program requires employers to have written policies on reducing workplace hazards. The blood-borne pathogen standard requires use of universal precautions by people who come in contact with semen, vaginal secretions, blood and other bodily fluids that may transmit diseases.
"If you think of nursing or the healthcare industry, they have to use universal precautions," Gard said. "That means you always use a rubber glove when they draw blood."
In addition to a condoms-only policy, enforcement of existing state regulations would require porn producers to bear the costs of any testing, vaccinations and medical care associated with their employees in the workplace, Kerndt said. It would also mean an end to practices in some pornographic movies that involve contact with semen.
Last year, the county health department issued a report concluding that the porn industry posed a health risk to its workers and the general population. Health officials at that time recommended that the Board of Supervisors ask state officials to develop regulations that would require adult-film actors to use condoms and be tested for a variety of communicable diseases, including HIV and hepatitis.
Since that time, county and state officials have been working with adult-film industry representatives, but news of last week's infections gave the effort to require a condom-only policy new momentum.
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"You couldn't imagine a construction company sending a person to a work site without a hard hat, and nor should we think of someone in an adult-film industry production company working without a condom," said Peter Kerndt, director of the sexually transmitted disease program for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. "I look at this strictly as an employer-employee issue."
Monday afternoon, Kerndt, on behalf of the county, asked Cal/OSHA to investigate the production companies where Darren James and Lara Roxx, the two infected actors, have worked.
Also, Gard said, Cal/OSHA generally responds to complaints about workplace hazards, and so far no adult-film actors have filed complaints.
But now that the agency is getting involved, it has two main regulations that would apply to the porn industry: illness-prevention program requirements and the blood-borne pathogen standard, Gard said.
The illness-prevention program requires employers to have written policies on reducing workplace hazards. The blood-borne pathogen standard requires use of universal precautions by people who come in contact with semen, vaginal secretions, blood and other bodily fluids that may transmit diseases.
"If you think of nursing or the healthcare industry, they have to use universal precautions," Gard said. "That means you always use a rubber glove when they draw blood."
In addition to a condoms-only policy, enforcement of existing state regulations would require porn producers to bear the costs of any testing, vaccinations and medical care associated with their employees in the workplace, Kerndt said. It would also mean an end to practices in some pornographic movies that involve contact with semen.
Last year, the county health department issued a report concluding that the porn industry posed a health risk to its workers and the general population. Health officials at that time recommended that the Board of Supervisors ask state officials to develop regulations that would require adult-film actors to use condoms and be tested for a variety of communicable diseases, including HIV and hepatitis.
Since that time, county and state officials have been working with adult-film industry representatives, but news of last week's infections gave the effort to require a condom-only policy new momentum.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...msinadultfilms
This story is one of the top listed Yahoo news stories.
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