Cal/OSHA Weighs Automated Farming Machines Amid Safety Concerns

California OSHA’s (Cal/OSHA) standards board is scheduled to hear debate over whether to amend its workforce safety rules for farming equipment to allow automated tractors and other machines to operate independently in the field, amid pushback from labor and worker-safety groups that say the move would heighten injury and death risks. “There is a growing need for the use of autonomous agricultural equipment,” claims the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) in a background paper on the issue . “This...