An overhead shot of the scrap yard at Alco Iron & Metal in San Leandro.
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - A California lawmaker didn't mince words this week when she verbally ripped into the state agency charged with overseeing workplace safety.
Cal-OSHA ‘disgraceful’
What they're saying:
This browser does not support the Video element.
3 workers killed at San Leandro company; Cal-OSHA has no power to shut down
Three workers in the last eight years have died at a family-owned San Leandro metal recycling business, and the company has been fined for more than 60 safety violations as far back as the 1990s – possibly the worst safety record of any similar company in the last 10 years in California, a review of state records show.
"Cal-OSHA is a disgraceful agency," Assemblywoman Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro) told KTVU. "I have three dead men in my district waiting for justice. And unfortunately, justice doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon."
Ortega emphasized the great irony, in her opinion, that Cal-OSHA – California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health – is a "department that just does not care about workers, and it's their main job."
Ortega was referring to the inaction resulting from the deaths of Luis Guerrero in January 2025, Ray Alfaro in March 2022 and Alberto Anaya in June 2017.
All three men died on the job — crushed by a forklift, a bundle of copper wire and a collapsed screw conveyor, respectively – while working for Alco Iron & Metal in San Leandro.
Ortega's bill, AB2321, which would demand that Cal-OSHA accelerate its investigations in serious cases and have inspectors refer them, if warranted, to prosecutors, is sitting on the governor's desk.
Guerrero's family has declined to comment.
Highest death rate
Big picture view:
KTVU obtained video of Luis Guerrero being crushed by a forklift at Alco Iron & Steel in San Leandro. Jan. 8, 2025
Alco had the highest death rate in the last decade of any metal scrap recycler of those reviewed, a review of OSHA data shows.
In fact, only one other metal recycling company has had a single death over the last decade: Sims Group USA, which has 4,000 employees, 20 times more than Alco.
A KTVU investigation of federal data revealed that the company had been fined more than 60 times for safety violations dating back to the 1990s, possibly the worst safety record of any similar company in the last decade in California.
Cal-OSHA doesn't respond
In July 2025, Cal-OSHA told KTVU that they referred Guerro's death to Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
But as of this week, that case is not before prosecutors.
KTVU has been reaching out regularly to find out where the case is but hasn't received satisfactory answers. It's unclear what the hold up is.
A spokeswoman for Cal-OSHA declined to comment on why the case isn't currently before the DA, and would not respond to Ortega's criticisms.
"There are no additional updates to share at this time," a spokeswoman wrote in an email.
Cal-OSHA did take action in finding Alco Iron & Metal nearly $160,000 for those three deaths.
However, the $95,000 fine for the death of Guerrero and the $18,000 fine for the death of Alfaro are both still pending as records show they are being contested.
The majority of the $45,000 fine for the death of Anaya was deleted by an administrative law judge; leaving a fine of just $7,000.
‘Safe, family oriented’
The other side:
An aerial view of Alco Iron and Metal in San Leandro.
The San Leandro company, which has five locations and first opened in 1953, had previously issued a written statement to KTVU, saying that Alco has "always been a safe and family-oriented place to work."
"Alco truly is a family, and all of us watch out and care for each other," the statement read. "Alco prides itself on a robust safety training program and a culture where all management and employees buy into its importance."
Regarding the death of the first worker, the company maintains that the machine that collapsed had a manufacturer's design flaw.
Hearing on Cal-OSHA
Dig deeper:
This browser does not support the Video element.
Lawmaker 'appalled, disgusted' that 3 workers killed at San Leandro company in last decade
Assemblywoman Liz Ortega said she was ?appalled and disgusted? to learn three men were killed at San Leandro's Alco Iron and Metal.
At a hearing that Ortega convened in September 2025, a state audit documented that Cal-OSHA is sorely understaffed, which is a "root cause" for many of the agency's problems.
The agency currently has 35% of its field enforcement inspector positions unfilled as of July 1, 2026, records show.
But Ortega doesn't buy that argument.
"I refuse to say that it's funding," she said. "It's about prioritizing. We have a Department of Fish and Wildlife that has more staffing than the department that's in charge of workers."
Ortega said when she first took office in 2022, Cal-OSHA had "more money that they knew what to do with."
Cal-OSHA does not depend on state tax revenue because it is independently funded by a small surcharge on worker's compensation insurance premiums paid by employers.
Records reported by Public Citizen show that the Occupational Safety and Health Fund had surpluses of about $130 million to $200 million over the last several years.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cuts in the allocation of Cal-OSHA in the last three years, but twice the Legislature has voted to increase them.
"This is about taking accountability," Ortega said. "And right now, this department is not doing its job…It's clear that this department is incompetent. I don't know what else to say."
The Source: The information for this story comes from an interview with Assemblywoman Liz Ortega, emails with Cal-OSHA, phone calls with the Alameda County District Attorney, and prior statements from Alco Iron and Metal and a review of federal enforcement records.