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OSHA beryllium standard moves to final rule stage

May 30th, 2019 by Dakota Software Staff

OSHA beryllium standard moves to final rule stage

According to the Department of Labor's recently released Spring 2019 regulatory agenda, changes to provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's beryllium rule for general industry have now moved to the final rule stage.

The agenda, issued biannually by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, shows regulations in pre-rule, proposed rule and final rule stages, and provides a timeline for individual rules. The alterations to OSHA's beryllium rule provisions were listed in the proposed rule stage of the Fall 2018 regulatory agenda, and now join a similar regulation regarding beryllium in the construction and shipyard sectors that has been in the final rule stage since the previous agenda. Both rules concerning beryllium are scheduled to be published in December.

OSHA has also proposed amending the welding and cutting standard in construction to eliminate "any perceived ambiguity" about the definition of "confined space" as it applies to welding activities. A notice of proposed rulemaking is similarly slated for December publication.

OSHA's beryllium rule for general industry now joins the beryllium rule for construction and shipyard sectors in the final rule stage.

The agenda also reveals that a rule on workplace violence prevention in health care and social assistance continues to remain in the pre-rule stage. A related Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act panel is scheduled to convene in October.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has just one regulation remaining in the final rule stage, which relates to refuge alternatives for underground coal mines. The agency is also considering a proposed rule or direct final rule on detonators for blasting in metal and nonmetal mines, as well as a direct final rule or proposed rule regulating non-permissive surveying equipment in underground coal mines, both tentatively scheduled for publication this fall.

MSHA also intends to issue a Request for Information on respirable crystalline silica in July, and moved a potential rule concerning exposure to diesel exhaust was from pre-rule to long-term actions.

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