OSHA offers 18 proposed changes to existing standards

October 24th, 2016 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently released a slate of proposed revisions to a number of its existing standards, covering a wide range of rules from specific to general.

A significant number of the suggested changes are focused on the construction industry, but many will have an impact across many fields if implemented. According to Safety + Health magazine, the driving force behind the change is an executive order from the White House issued during President Obama's first term, which pushed for accuracy, standardization, ease of understanding and plain language in all federal regulations. Additionally, the order calls for objectivity in the use of scientific data to back standards and regulations, consistent retrospective rule analysis and greater cross-agency coordination, among others.

Part of OSHA's ongoing response to the order is Phase IV of its Standards Improvement Project. One statement from OSHA about the alterations is of particular relevance to businesses, as noted by Insurance Journal: Employers could save as much as $3.2 million a year with the new regulatory language in place. Here's a review of the more general standards that would change under the recommendations of the SIP Phase IV:

Hearing loss on the job
A clarification of the wording of the rule related to hearing loss occurring during working hours makes the assessment process clearer for employers, OSHA said. It uses more direct language to point toward the specific criteria used to determine if this impairment occurs on the job. It also makes the enforcement policy for this rule clearer.

Lockout/tagout and hazardous energy control
The revision would make the responsibility of businesses clearer in this general industry standard, removing language that has confused many since its introduction. The presence of the word unexpected in the standard's language would be eliminated, meaning that employers have to protect against any type of energization of equipment and tools during maintenance and similar efforts. OSHA said this change reflects the health and safety regulator's original intent.

Requirements for chest X-rays, X-ray storage
The changes would remove the rule that currently exists related to mandatory chest X-rays for employees who are exposed to acrylonitrile, coke oven emissions and inorganic arsenic. OSHA said the change brings its regulations in line with modern medical standards and removes an unnecessary burden for businesses.

In instances where X-rays will still be used in employee health and safety efforts, OSHA proposed allowing digital mediums as acceptable storage for these medical records. The current rule disallows such use because it was developed and implemented before the necessary technology for digital storage existed.

Lung-function testing related to cotton dust
This change would have a similar effect to the chest X-ray update in terms of bringing the OSHA standard for testing of lung function in relation to cotton dust exposure in line with current, accepted medical practice and technology.

Lanyard and lifeline break strength
OSHA's focus is on standardization for this update, bringing both the general industry and construction-specific rules in line with each other.

Collection of Social Security numbers
This change affects nearly all industries and is focused on improving the security of sensitive employee information. It removes all requirements to record the Social Security numbers of employees in a variety of contexts, including exposure monitoring and medical surveillance. The removal of these requirements helps businesses prevent the potential for identity fraud.

The public comment period for the changes is active through December 5. Comments can be submitted to the regulations.gov website. Although never a sure thing, there appears to be little resistance to the vast majority of changes.