Below are the items on OSHA’s regulatory agenda. I have posted their scope on the standards that play a major role in the facility’s I do work in and links to all of the other items for those of interest to you.
| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Communication Tower Safety |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Emergency Response – OSHA currently regulates aspects of emergency response and preparedness; some of these standards were promulgated decades ago, and none were designed as comprehensive emergency response standards. Consequently, they do not address the full range of hazards or concerns currently facing emergency responders, and other workers providing skilled support, nor do they reflect major changes in performance specifications for protective clothing and equipment. The Agency acknowledged that current OSHA standards also do not reflect all the major developments in safety and health practices that have already been accepted by the emergency response community and incorporated into industry consensus standards. OSHA is considering updating these standards with information gathered through an RFI and public meetings. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Mechanical Power Presses Update |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Powered Industrial Trucks – Powered Industrial Trucks (e.g., fork trucks, tractors, lift trucks, and motorized hand trucks) are ubiquitous in industrial (and many retail) worksites. The agency’s standard still relies upon ANSI standards from 1969. OSHA will issue an RFI to determine if changes need to be made to locations of use, maintenance, training, and operation of powered industrial trucks. On a separate track, OSHA also intends to issue a separate proposal for updating the consensus standard incorporated for design and construction of powered industrial trucks. The Industrial Truck Association has been encouraging OSHA to update and expand the OSHA standard to account for the substantial revisions to ANSI standards on powered industrial trucks over the last 45 years. The current standard covers 11 types of trucks, and there are now 19 types. In addition, the standard itself incorporates an out-of-date consensus standard. OSHA will begin the process to develop a proposed rule updating the consensus standard referenced from the 1969 version of the American National Standard B56.1 to the 2016 version. This project is in accordance with Executive Order 13777, which is intended to facilitate the review of existing regulations that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Lock-Out/Tag-Out Update – Recent technological advancements that employ computer-based controls of hazardous energy (e.g., mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, chemical, and radiation) conflict with OSHA’s existing lock-out/tag-out standard. The use of these computer-based controls has become more prevalent as equipment manufactures modernize their designs. Additionally, there are national consensus standards and international standards harmonization that govern the design and use of computer-based controls: this approach of controlling hazardous energy is more accepted in other nations, which raises issues of needing to harmonize U.S. standards with those of other countries. The Agency has recently seen an increase in requests for variances for these devices. This RFI will be useful in understanding the strengths and limitations of this new technology, as well as potential hazards to workers. The agency may also hold a stakeholder meeting and open a public docket to explore the issue. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Tree Care Standard |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Prevention of Workplace Violence in Health Care and Social Assistance |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Blood Lead Level for Medical Removal |
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| DOL/OSHA | Prerule Stage |
Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica; Revisions to Table 1 in the Standard for Construction |
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| DOL/OSHA | Proposed Rule Stage |
Amendments to the Cranes and Derricks in Construction Standard |
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| DOL/OSHA | Proposed Rule Stage |
Update to the Hazard Communication Standard – OSHA and other U.S. agencies have been involved in a long-term project to negotiate a globally harmonized approach to classifying chemical hazards, and providing labels and safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals. The result is the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS was adopted by the United Nations, with an international goal of as many countries as possible adopting it by 2008. OSHA incorporated the GHS into the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) in March 2012 to specify requirements for hazard classification and to standardize label components and information on safety data sheets, which will improve employee protection and facilitate international trade. However, the GHS is a living document and has been updated several times since OSHA’s rulemaking. OSHA’s rulemaking was based on the third edition of the GHS and the UN recently completed the seventh. OSHA is conducting rulemaking to harmonize the HCS to the latest edition of the GHS and to codify a number of enforcement policies that have been issued since the 2012 standard. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Proposed Rule Stage |
Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Exemption Expansions for Railroad Roadway Work |
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| DOL/OSHA | Proposed Rule Stage |
Puerto Rico State Plan |
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| DOL/OSHA | Proposed Rule Stage |
Welding in Construction Confined Spaces – OSHA is proposing to amend the Welding and Cutting Standard in construction to eliminate any perceived ambiguity about the definition of “confined space” that applies to welding activities in construction. On May 4, 2015, when OSHA published the final rule for Confined Spaces in Construction, a new subpart was added to provide protections to employees working in confined spaces in construction. This new subpart replaced OSHA’s one training requirement for confined space work with a comprehensive standard that includes a permit program designed to protect employees from exposure to many hazards associated with work in confined spaces, including atmospheric and physical hazards. The explanation of the final rule also discusses in detail how the Welding and Cutting Standard in Construction works together with the confined spaces standard regarding the application of their respective requirements. Although the confined spaces standard states that it encompasses welding activities, the welding standard itself does not expressly identify a definition of “confined space”. OSHA will conduct a rulemaking to eliminate any perceived ambiguity about the definition of confined space that applies to welding activities in construction. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Final Rule Stage |
Standards Improvement Project IV |
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| DOL/OSHA | Final Rule Stage |
Quantitative Fit Testing Protocol: Amendment to the Final Rule on Respiratory Protection – In January 1998, OSHA published the final Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134). In the final revised respirator standard, OSHA established a mechanism to accept new fit test protocols under Mandatory Appendix A. Any person may submit to OSHA an application for approval of a new fit test protocol, and if the application meets certain criteria, OSHA will initiate a rulemaking proceeding under 6(b)(7) of the OSH Act to determine whether to list the new protocol as an approved fit test protocol in appendix A. OSHA has received a submission to consider three new quantitative fit test protocols that reduce the time required to complete the fit test while maintaining acceptable test sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value. This rulemaking action evaluates the efficacy of the submitted fit test protocols and, if appropriate, will adopt them in appendix A of the standard. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Final Rule Stage |
Rules of Agency Practice and Procedure Concerning OSHA Access to Employee Medical Records – OSHA’s regulation at 29 CFR 1913.10 includes internal procedures to be followed by OSHA personnel when obtaining and using personally-identifiable employee medical information. After careful review, OSHA has identified several provisions in need of revision. The Agency plans to amend the regulation to improve its efficiency in implementing these internal procedures. To improve efficiency, OSHA is considering placing responsibility and management of the program to OSHA’s Chief Medical Officer (e.g., namely authority to sign Medical Access Orders) and to remove requirements for redacting records since this is duplicative of current privacy requirements that are already strictly enforced. |
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| DOL/OSHA | Final Rule Stage |
Technical Corrections to 35 OSHA Standards and Regulations – |
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| DOL/OSHA | Final Rule Stage |
Exposure to Beryllium NPRM to Review General Industry Provisions |
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| DOL/OSHA | Final Rule Stage |
Occupational Exposure to Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds in Construction and Shipyard Sectors |
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