Venoco, Inc. safety record at a glance
Venoco, Inc. has been the subject of 2 Cal/OSHA inspections in California since 2000, opened between Feb 9, 2000 and Jul 15, 2008. 1 of them were unprogrammed related inspections. All of them produced citations, 17 in all: 4 serious. Inspectors proposed $26,605 in penalties; after appeals and settlements the current total is $20,230. The largest single penalty, $12,170, came from an inspection opened Feb 9, 2000 in Goleta. That places the employer at #6,572 of 122,854 California employers in the database by penalties.
Industry as coded by the inspecting office: Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction. Worksites in Live Oak, Goleta.
Every inspection, newest first
Click a date for the citations in that inspection.
| Opened | City | Why | Result | Proposed | Penalty | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 15, 2008 | Live Oak | Unprogrammed related | 3 citations 2 serious | $14,435 | $8,060 | Mar 4, 2011 |
| Feb 9, 2000 | Goleta | Referral | 14 citations 2 serious | $12,170 | $12,170 | Aug 9, 2001 |
Also recorded as: Venoco Inc.
The rules this employer was cited under
- 8 CCR 5189: 9 citations, 1 serious, $5,235
- 8 CCR 5194, Hazard communication: 1 citation, 1 serious, $6,750
- 8 CCR 6857: 1 citation, 1 serious, $6,750
- 8 CCR 3395, Heat illness prevention, outdoor: 1 citation, $750
- 8 CCR 5157, Confined spaces: 1 citation, 1 serious, $560
- 8 CCR 5144, Respiratory protection: 1 citation, $185
- 8 CCR 3220, Emergency action plan: 1 citation
- 8 CCR 6777: 1 citation
How to read this record
Each row is one inspection by Cal/OSHA (or, rarely, federal OSHA) of one worksite. Why is the reason it was opened. Proposed is the penalty the inspector assessed; penalty is the current figure after any appeal or settlement. "Serious" means a realistic possibility of death or serious harm; "willful" and "repeat" carry penalties up to $162,851 each.
Citations document that the employer was told, in writing, what the rule required and when. That knowledge is often the center of a retaliation case: a worker who complained about the hazard an inspector later cited, and was then fired or cut, has a Labor Code 6310 claim, with lost wages and attorney's fees.
Full explainer: how to read a Cal/OSHA record.
If you work, or worked, at Venoco, Inc.
Write down what you reported, to whom and when, and what changed afterward: shifts, pay, duties, write-ups. Request the inspection file from the Cal/OSHA district office using the activity number on the inspection page. An injury goes through workers' compensation; a firing, demotion or threat after a safety complaint or injury report is an employment claim with a one-year deadline at the Labor Commissioner (Labor Code 6310) and a longer one in court. Free, confidential review: (800) 371-3088 or send what you have.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data, California inspections. Record last checked Nov 1, 2026. Back to the safety tracker.
About this data: Records come from the U.S. Department of Labor's OSHA enforcement datasets (inspection, violation, accident and accident injury tables), which carry Cal/OSHA's state-plan inspections alongside federal ones. We load every inspection of a California worksite opened since January 1, 2000 and refresh it weekly. Employer names, addresses and industry codes are as the inspecting office recorded them; similar names are grouped where they clearly refer to the same employer. A citation can be reduced, vacated or withdrawn on appeal, and an inspection can stay open for months, so a record can change. Penalties shown as "current" reflect the latest status in the federal file. This page is public information about the employer's regulatory record, not legal advice and not a statement that any person was harmed or any law broken beyond what the record states.