OSHA

On May 24th, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register entitled, Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment (Fall Protection Systems) (75 FR 28861).  The notice details OSHA's plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces. A public hearing on the revised changes will be held after the public comment period for the NPRM.

ORC filed comments to OSHA March 30, 2010 in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to restore a column to the OSHA 300 Log that employers would use to record work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).  This proposed rule would require employers to place a check mark in the MSD column, instead of the column they currently mark, if a case is an MSD that meets the Recordkeeping regulation's general recording requirements.  OSHA’s purpose in restoring the column is to improve the accuracy and completeness of national occupational injury and illness statistics; provide valu

EPA found in 1985 that methylene chloride (MC) is a probable human carcinogen and poses a long-term danger to human health. OSHA published its final MC Standard (29 CFR 1910.1052) on January 10, 1997, reducing the permissible exposure limit from an 8-hour-time-eighted-average (TWA) of 500 parts per million (ppm) to 25 ppm.  

The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) revived a petition first made to the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration in October of 1993, calling last week for a immediate action to promulgate a comprehensive standard for occupational exposure to metal-working fluids (MWF).  The new effort is based on what the UAW says is new scientific evidence for respiratory disease and cancer allegedly caused by exposure to metalworking fluids under prevailing conditions, as well as new knowledge regarding microbial growth and exposure control measures.

OSHA requests information and comment on occupational exposure to infectious agents in settings where healthcare is provided, (e.g., hospitals, outpatient clinics, clinics in schools and correctional facilities), and healthcare-related settings (e.g., laboratories that handle potentially infectious biological materials, medical examiner offices and mortuaries). OSHA is interested in strategies that are being used in such healthcare and other healthcare-related work settings to mitigate the risk of occupationally-acquired infectious diseases.

The Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., has introduced legislation (Sen. 3257) to protect OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-LA., would restore $3.125 million in funding for VPP cut by the Obama Administration in its fiscal year 2011 budget proposal.

OSHA invites interested parties to participate in informal stakeholder meetings on Injury and Illness Prevention Programs, referred to as ``I2P2.'' OSHA plans to use the information gathered at these meetings in developing an Injury and Illness Prevention Program proposed rule. The discussions will be informal and will provide the Agency with the necessary information to develop a rule that will help employers reduce workplace injuries and illnesses through a systematic process that proactively addresses workplace safety and health hazards.