Patrick Bell, the principal safety engineer for research and standards at the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, has died of complications from a chronic illness. He was 56.
“Pat Bell was a good man who cared about workers’ safety,” said IBEW 1245 Assistant Business Manager Ralph Armstrong. “He has assisted Local 1245 with several safety-related issues and will be hard to replace.”
DOSH senior safety engineer Eric Berg was named as interim Principal Safety Engineer.
As principal safety engineer for the R&S Unit, Bell led the unit’s work on rulemaking and variances, helped develop overall DOSH policy, oversaw the Crane Unit and enforced Labor Code provisions on exterior building maintenance facilities. He was a 27-year veteran of the agency.