Last week OSHA published their “spring agenda” and this gives us a very good idea as to which standards OSHA has on their radar screen. Here is their agenda…
| Proposed Rule Stage | Occupational Exposure to Beryllium – In 1999 and 2001, OSHA was petitioned to issue an emergency temporary standard for permissible exposure limit (PEL) to beryllium by the United Steel Workers (formerly the Paper Allied-Industrial, Chemical, and Energy Workers Union), Public Citizen Health Research Group, and others. The Agency denied the petitions but stated its intent to begin data gathering to collect needed information on beryllium’s toxicity, risks, and patterns of usage. On November 26, 2002, OSHA published a Request for Information (RFI) (67 FR 70707) to solicit information pertinent to occupational exposure to beryllium, including: current exposures to beryllium; the relationship between exposure to beryllium and the development of adverse health effects; exposure assessment and monitoring methods; exposure control methods; and medical surveillance. In addition, the Agency conducted field surveys of selected worksites to assess current exposures and control methods being used to reduce employee exposures to beryllium. OSHA convened a Small Business Advocacy Review Panel under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) and completed the SBREFA Report in January 2008. OSHA also completed a scientific peer review of its draft risk assessment. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AB76 |
| Final Rule Stage | Walking Working Surfaces and Personal Fall Protection Systems (Slips, Trips, and Fall Prevention) – In 1990, OSHA published a proposed rule (55 FR 13360) addressing slip, trip, and fall hazards and establishing requirements for personal fall protection systems. Slips, trips, and falls are among the leading causes of work-related injuries and fatalities. Since that time, new technologies and procedures have become available to protect employees from these hazards. The Agency has been working to update these rules to reflect current technology. As a result of issues raised in comments to the 1990 NPRM, OSHA published a notice to reopen the rulemaking for comment on May 2, 2003. Based on comments received on the 2003 notice, OSHA determined that the rule proposed in 1990 was out of date and did not reflect current industry practice or technology. The Agency published a second proposed rule on May 24, 2010, which reflected current information and increased consistency with other OSHA standards. Hearings were held on January 18 through 21, 2011. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AB80 |
| Prerule Stage | Bloodborne Pathogens – OSHA will undertake a review of the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) in accordance with the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act and section 5 of Executive Order 12866. The review will consider the continued need for the rule; whether the rule overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with other Federal, State or local regulations; and the degree to which technology, economic conditions, or other factors may have changed since the rule was evaluated. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC34 |
| Prerule Stage | Combustible Dust – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has initiated rulemaking to develop a combustible dust standard for general industry. OSHA will use information gathered, including from an upcoming SBREFA panel, to develop a comprehensive standard that addresses combustible dust hazards. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC41 |
| Long-Term Actions | Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements–Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) Column – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed to restore a column to the OSHA 300 Log that employers must check if a case they are already required to record under OSHA’s existing recordkeeping rule (29 CFR 1904) is a “musculoskeletal disorder” (MSD). This rulemaking does not change the existing requirements about when and under what circumstances employers must record work-related injuries and illnesses. The Agency believes that having aggregate data on MSDs may help employers and workers track these injuries at individual workplaces. MSD information will also improve the utility, accuracy, and completeness of the national occupational injury and illness statistics, and may assist the Agency in its day-to-day activities and overall safety and health policy making. This rulemaking was temporarily withdrawn from OMB on January 26, 2011, so that the Agency could gather more information from stakeholders in the small business community. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC45 |
| Proposed Rule Stage | Infectious Diseases – Employees in health care and other high-risk environments face long-standing infectious disease hazards such as tuberculosis (TB), varicella disease (chickenpox, shingles), and measles (rubeola), as well as new and emerging infectious disease threats, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and pandemic influenza. Health care workers and workers in related occupations, or who are exposed in other high-risk environments, are at increased risk of contracting TB, SARS, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and other infectious diseases that can be transmitted through a variety of exposure routes. OSHA is concerned about the ability of employees to continue to provide health care and other critical services without unreasonably jeopardizing their health. OSHA is developing a standard to ensure that employers establish a comprehensive infection control program and control measures to protect employees from infectious disease exposures to pathogens that can cause significant disease. Workplaces where such control measures might be necessary include: health care, emergency response, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, drug treatment programs, and other occupational settings where employees can be at increased risk of exposure to potentially infectious people. A standard could also apply to laboratories, which handle materials that may be a source of pathogens, and to pathologists, coroners’ offices, medical examiners, and mortuaries. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC46 |
| Long-Term Actions | Injury and Illness Prevention Program – OSHA is developing a rule requiring employers to implement an Injury and Illness Prevention Program. It involves planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving processes and activities that protect employee safety and health. OSHA has substantial data on reductions in injuries and illnesses from employers who have implemented similar effective processes. The Agency currently has voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines (54 FR 3904 to 3916), published in 1989. An injury and illness prevention program rule would build on these guidelines as well as lessons learned from successful approaches and best practices under OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program, Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program, and similar industry and international initiatives such as American National Standards Institute/American Industrial Hygiene Association Z10, and Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 18001. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC48 |
| Prerule Stage | Preventing Backover Injuries and Fatalities – Backing vehicles and equipment are common causes of struck-by injuries and can also cause caught-between injuries when backing vehicles and equipment pin a worker against an object. Struck-by injuries and caught-between injuries are two of the four leading causes of workplace fatalities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2013, 67 workers were fatally backed over while working. While many backing incidents can prove to be fatal, workers can suffer severe, non-fatal injuries as well. A review of OSHA’s Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) database found that backing incidents can result in serious injury to the back and pelvis, fractured bones, concussions, amputations, and other injuries. Emerging technologies in the field of backing operations may prevent incidents. The technologies include cameras and proximity detection systems. The use of spotters and internal traffic control plans can also make backing operations safer. The Agency has held stakeholder meetings on backovers, and is conducting site visits to employers, and is developing a standard to address these hazards. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC51 |
| Prerule Stage | Chemical Management and Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) – The majority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) were adopted in 1971, under section 6(a) of the OSH Act and only a few have been successfully updated since that time. There is widespread agreement among industry, labor, and professional occupational safety and health organizations that OSHA’s PELs are outdated and need revising in order to take into account newer scientific data that indicates that significant occupational health risks exist at levels below OSHA’s current PELs. In 1989, OSHA issued a final standard that lowered PELs for over 200 chemicals and added PELs for 164. However, the final rule was challenged and ultimately vacated by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991 citing deficiencies in OSHA’s analyses. Since that time OSHA has made attempts to examine its outdated PELs in light of the court’s 1991 decisions. On October 10, 2014, OSHA published a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit comment from the public on approaches it may take to reduce the risk of developing illness caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals. This RFI does not address Process Safety Management issues being addressed under the Executive Order, but rather lower, longer-term exposures. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC74 |
| Proposed Rule Stage | Amendments to the Cranes and Derricks in Construction Standard – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing corrections and amendments to the final standard for cranes and derricks published in August 2010. The standard has a large number of provisions designed to improve crane safety and reduce worker injury and fatality. The proposed amendments: correct references to power line voltage for direct current (DC) voltages as well as alternating current (AC) voltages; broadens the exclusion for forklifts carrying loads under the forks from “winch or hook” to with a “winch and boom”; clarifies an exclusion for work activities by articulating cranes; provides four definitions inadvertently omitted in the final standard; replaces “minimum approach distance” with “minimum clearance distance” throughout to remove ambiguity; clarifies the use of demarcated boundaries for work near power lines; corrects an error permitting body belts to be used as a personal fall arrest system rather than a personal fall restraint system; replaces the verb “must” with “may” used in error in several provisions; corrects an error in a caption on standard hand signals; and resolves an issue of “NRTL-approved” safety equipment (e.g., proximity alarms and insulating devices) that is required by the final standard, but is not yet available. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC81 |
| Prerule Stage | Process Safety Management and Prevention of Major Chemical Accidents – In accordance with the Executive Order 13650, Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) on December 9, 2013 (78 FR 73756). The RFI anticipates to identify issues related to modernization of the Process Safety Management standard and related standards necessary to meet the goal of preventing major chemical accidents. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC82 |
| Final Rule Stage | Clarification of Employer’s Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain Accurate Records of Each Recordable Injury and Illness – OSHA is proposing to amend its recordkeeping regulations to clarify that the duty to make and maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses is an ongoing obligation. The duty to make and maintain an accurate record of an injury or illness continues for as long as the employer must keep and make available records for the year in which the injury or illness occurred. The duty does not expire if the employer fails to create the necessary records when first required to do so. OSHA is issuing this proposed rule because of the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in AKM LLC v. Secretary of Labor, 675 F.3d 752 (D.C. Cir. 2012). | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC84 |
| Prerule Stage | Communication Tower Safety – While the number of employees engaged in the communication tower industry remains small, the fatality rate is very high. Over the past 20 years, this industry has experienced an average fatality rate that greatly exceeds that of the construction industry, for example. Falls are the leading cause of death in tower work and OSHA has evidence that fall protection is used either improperly or inconsistently. Employees are often hoisted to working levels on small base-mounted drum hoists that have been mounted to a truck chassis, and these may not be rated to hoist personnel. Communication tower construction and maintenance activities are not adequately covered by current OSHA fall protection and personnel hoisting standards, and OSHA plans to revise the standard. Revisions would clarify the safety responsibilities regarding tower work, structural considerations and Radio Frequency hazards. It would also consider incorporating the new industry consensus standards for construction or maintenance of communication towers. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC90 |
| Prerule Stage | Emergency Response and Preparedness – OSHA currently regulates aspects of emergency response and preparedness, and that 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, 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 plans to update these standards with information gathered through an RFI and public meetings. After the tragedy that struck West, Texas, in April 2013, it was reaffirmed that emergency responder health and safety continues to be an area of ongoing need. President Obama issued Executive Order 13650 Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security (EO) on August 1, 2013, to improve chemical facility safety and security, including emergency responder safety. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC91 |
| Long-Term Actions | 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 defining 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. The result was more specific requirements for hazard classification, as well as standardized label components and a standard approach to conveying information on safety data sheets. The adoption has the potential to address some issues regarding accuracy and comprehensibility in the U.S., 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 sixth. The latest edition contains additional hazard categories that OSHA may add, desensitized explosives and pyrophoric gases, in order to maintain alignment with the GHS and other countries that have adopted the GHS. OSHA would implement such changes via rulemaking. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC93 |
| Proposed 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 set up a mechanism for OSHA’s acceptance of 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. Employers, employees, and safety and health professionals use fit testing to select respirators. Currently OSHA relies on fit testing methods specified in Appendix A of the final revised Respiratory Protection standard. When OSHA published the final Respiratory Protection standard in 1998, it allowed for later rulemaking on new fit test protocols. This rulemaking action will allow for the incorporation of new fit test protocols into 1910.134. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC94 |
| 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. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC95 |
| Prerule Stage | Mechanical Power Presses Update – The current OSHA standard on mechanical power presses does not address the use of hydraulic or pneumatic power presses. Additionally, the existing standard is approximately 40 years old and does not address technological changes. OSHA previously published an ANPRM on Mechanical Power Presses (June, 2007) in which it proposed several options for updating of this standard, but there were insufficient resources and no further action was taken. The Agency would like to update the public record to determine how best to proceed. This project is in accordance with Executive Order 13563, 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. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC98 |
| Prerule Stage | Powered Industrial Trucks – Powered Industrial Trucks (e.g., fork trucks, tractors, lift trucks, motorized hand trucks) are ubiquitous in industrial (and many retail) worksites. The agency’s standard still relies upon ANSI standards from 1969. 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. This project is in accordance with Executive Order 13563, 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. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AC99 |
| Prerule Stage | Lock-out/Tag-out Update – Recent technological advancements that employ computer-based controls of hazardous energy (e.g., mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, chemical, 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 international standards harmonization concerns since this method of lockout/tag-out is more accepted in other nations. The Agency has recently seen an increase in requests for variances for these devices. An RFI would be useful in understanding the strengths and limitations of this new technology, as well as potential hazards to workers. Alternatively, the agency may hold a stakeholder meeting and open a public docket to explore the issue. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD00 |
| Prerule Stage | Revocation of Obsolete Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) – | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD01 |
| Prerule Stage | Tree Care Standard – There is no OSHA standard for tree care operations; the agency currently applies a patchwork of standards to address the serious hazards in this industry. The tree care industry previously petitioned the agency for rulemaking and OSHA issued an ANPRM (September, 2008); but the rulemaking was later removed from the Regulatory Agenda due to insufficient resources. Tree care continues to be a high-hazard industry. Stakeholder meetings will allow the agency to update the record and proceed to a future rulemaking. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD04 |
| Prerule Stage | 1-Bromopropane (1-BP) Standard – 1-bromopropane (1-BP, also known as n-propyl bromide (nPB)) is an organic solvent used within adhesive formulations, metal surface cleaning operations, and as a solvent in the dry cleaning industry. In 2014, OSHA issued a hazard alert because occupational exposure to 1-BP has been linked to neurological illnesses. Animal studies have also shown effects on the male and female reproductive systems, liver, and hematopoietic systems. In October 2014, the National Toxicology Program classified 1-BP as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. There is no OSHA PEL for 1-BP. An RFI would allow the agency to explore the need for a PEL or comprehensive rule. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD05 |
| Prerule Stage | Noise in Construction – Two recent studies of occupational hearing loss conducted by Department of Energy and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health concluded that a significant percentage of construction workers have suffered from hearing loss over the duration of their careers. It has been noted that construction work is excluded from the OSHA Hearing Conservation Amendment that is required for general industry work. Also existing construction noise requirements lack the specificity of a general hearing conservation program that must be implemented for general industry work. Discussions within the industry and new information, such as the two referenced hearing loss studies, have prompted OSHA to consider that it may be necessary to revisit whether requirements are effective for protecting construction workers from noise hazards. This Request for information will solicit public comments and information about the effectiveness and feasibility of adopting more protective noise-hazard requirements, for example, such as those similar to the ANSI Standard A10.46- Hearing Loss Prevention in Construction and Demolition Workers. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD06 |
| Proposed Rule Stage | Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Exemption Expansions for Railroad Roadway Work – After the final rule for Cranes and Derricks in Construction was published on August 9, 2010, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed a petition for review on October 7, 2010, challenging certain exemptions affecting railroad roadway work. OSHA and AAR reached a September 9, 2014, settlement agreement filed with the court. The settlement agreement requires OSHA to undertake rulemaking to expand exemptions affecting railroad roadway work. This proposed rule will make the crane rule for construction more applicable to railroad cranes. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD07 |
| Prerule Stage | Preventing Workplace Violence in Healthcare – The RFI will provide OSHA’s history with the issue of workplace violence in healthcare, including a discussion of the Guidelines that were initially published in 1996, a 2014 update to the Guidelines, and the recently published tools and strategies that were shared with OSHA by healthcare facilities with effective violence prevention programs. It will also discuss s the Agency’s use of 5(a)(1) in enforcement cases in healthcare. The RFI solicits information primarily from health care employers, workers and other subject matter experts on impacts of violence, prevention strategies, and other information that will be useful to the Agency if it decides to move forward in rulemaking. OSHA will also solicit information from stakeholders, including state officials, employers and workers, in the nine states that require certain health healthcare facilities to have some type of workplace violence prevention program. | Spring 2016 | 1218-AD08 |
| Prerule Stage | Occupational Exposure to Styrene – Styrene is an industrial chemical used to manufacture a wide variety of plastic, rubber and other products. Styrene resins are used extensively in the manufacture of polystyrene packaging, thermal insulation, and disposable cups and containers, rubber used in tires and many other products. Because of their ubiquitous use in industry, hundreds of thousands of employees are potentially exposed to styrene.
Documented health effects of occupational exposure to styrene include respiratory tract and eye irritation and effects to the nervous system. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) has classified styrene as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) categorized styrene as possibly carcinogenic to humans. The current OSHA PEL of 100 ppm is two to five times higher than the limits issued by CAL-OSHA, NIOSH, ACGIH, and the European Union. Styrene received considerable interest from stakeholders in a 2010 web forum on Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs). OSHA is requesting information about occupational exposures to styrene including uses, administrative and engineering controls for managing exposures, health effects, risk assessment, potential substitutes, and more, in order to determine the need for a revised PEL. |
Spring 2016 | 1218-AD09 |
| Prerule Stage | Blood Lead Level for Medical Removal – Recent medical findings indicate that lower blood lead levels (BLLs) in adults can result in adverse health effects including hypertension, cognitive dysfunction and effects on renal function. These and other health effects (adverse female reproductive outcomes) are being identified in individuals with BLLs under 40 µg/dL. The lead standards for general industry and construction are based on lead toxicity information that is over 35 years old. OSHA lead standards allow for the return of the employee to former job status at a BLL < 40 µg/dL. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), and California’s Medical Management recommends that BLLs among all adults be reduced to <10 µg/dL.
OSHA is exploring regulatory options to lower blood leads in affected workers. An Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would seek input from the public to help the Agency identify possible areas of the lead standards for revision to improve protection of workers in industries and occupations where preventable exposure to lead continues to occur. |
Spring 2016 | 1218-AD10 |
| Final Rule Stage | Hazardous Chemical Reporting; Community Right-to-Know; Revisions to Hazard Categories and Minor Corrections – The EPA is amending its hazardous chemical reporting regulations due to the changes in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). OSHA’s HCS was recently revised to conform to the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Under the revised HCS, manufacturers and importers are required to re-evaluate their chemicals according to the new criteria adopted from GHS to ensure that they are classified appropriately. Manufacturers and importers are also required to develop standardized Safety Data Sheets (formerly known as “Material Safety Data Sheets) and distribute them to downstream users of their chemicals. These changes in HCS affect the reporting requirements under sections 311 and 312 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Based on the new classification criteria that OSHA adopted, the EPA is revising the existing hazard categories for hazardous chemical inventory form reporting under EPCRA section 312 and for list reporting under section 311. In this action, the EPA is also making few minor corrections in the hazardous chemical reporting regulations. | Spring 2016 | 2050-AG85 |
| Proposed Rule Stage | Significant New Use Rules; Amendments to Hazard Communication Provisions – The EPA issued regulations in 1989 for the “Protection in the Workplace” (40 CFR 721.63) and “Hazard Communication Program” (40 CFR 721.72) components of the Significant New Uses of Chemical Substances regulations at 40 CFR 721. Where possible, these regulations are closely aligned with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations at 29 CFR 1910.1200. OSHA issued a final rule on March 26, 2012 that aligns OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standards with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The EPA is considering proposing changes to the applicable Significant New Uses of Chemical Substances regulations at 40 CFR 721 to align the EPA regulations, where possible, with the final revisions to the OSHA Hazard Communications Standards. EPA is also considering other changes to 40 CFR part 721 based on issues that have been identified by the EPA and public comments for SNURs issued under these regulations. | Spring 2016 | 2070-AJ94 |