OAKLAND, Calif.—The state of California's Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board on Thursday afternoon voted 3-2 against proposed new rules for adult film production.
The new proposed regulation known as § 5193.1 would have mandated condom use in sex scenes as well as barrier protection such as goggles and dental dams to protect against potential infection, which could have been devastating to the future of adult film productions in California. An older portion of the Health Code has mandated barrier protections for hospital workers and others in similar situations, which could include the adult industry, but the industry has generally not followed that section of the code, and CalOSHA has generally not enforced it.
The vote came after more than one hundred adult performers, producers, activists and health care advocates appeared at the Cal/OSHA hearing at the Harris State Building in Oakland, where board members heard testimony from both sides of the matter.
The Cal/OSHA vote capped off a seven-year process during which performers and performer groups have repeatedly been denied a voice. A companion ballot measure, sponsored by Michael Weinstein of the controversial AIDS Healthcare Foundation, would allow private citizens to sue performers who don’t use condoms.
