ADULT FILM FIRMS FINED FOR HIV CASES.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Two Van Nuys adult film companies face $30,500 fines each for unsafe working conditions that led to three actors contracting HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. earlier this year - the first time the state has cited adult film sets, Cal-OSHA officials said Thursday. The citations charge that Evasive e·va·sive adj. 1. Inclined or intended to evade: took evasive action. 2. Intentionally vague or ambiguous; equivocal: an evasive statement. Angles and TTB TTB Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (US Department of the Treasury) TTB Thru the Bible TTB Telegraphic Transfer Buying (currency exchange rate) TTB Through-The-Book TTB That's Too Bad Productions failed to protect workers from exposure to bloodborne pathogens or infectious diseases infectious diseases: see communicable diseases. by training the actors to protect themselves and providing protective equipment, such as condoms. As a result, in March, a male actor infected with HIV spread the virus to three actresses he worked with on the set. ``Employers in the adult film industry must know how to protect their employees from health and safety hazards and understand the consequences of failing to comply with state regulations,'' said Vicky Heza, deputy chief of enforcement for the California Division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. agency established (1970) in the Dept. of Labor (see Labor, United States Department of) to develop and enforce regulations for the safety and health of workers in businesses that are engaged in interstate . The two companies, which have the same Oxnard Street address and could be one entity, could not be reached for comment Thursday evening. The citations are the first the state has ever issued for an adult film set, and they mark a new level of oversight by workplace regulators. But some in the business fear a heavy hand from regulators, who they said may try to impose traditional workplace laws on a nontraditional industry. ``Adult filmmaking film·mak·ing n. The making of movies. is a unique subset of commercial filmmaking. It's going to be a difficult situation to come up with universal regulations,'' said Jeffrey Douglas, an attorney and chair of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade group that represents the adult film industry. That said, many filmmakers and actors are very concerned about HIV being transmitted on the set and are open to talking with workplace regulators, Douglas added. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Public Health officials said the citation should put the adult film industry on notice that actors should be offered protection, and filmmakers should be held responsible for actors' health on the set. ``With the HIV transmission, this has been a wake-up call that it is important that there be an injury and illness prevention plan in place and that workers be protected when they are performing in the workplace environment,'' said Robert Kim-Farley, director of the county's communicable disease communicable disease n. A disease that is transmitted through direct contact with an infected individual or indirectly through a vector. Also called contagious disease. control and prevention division. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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