{"id":6870,"date":"2013-12-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/occupational-safety-and-health-administration-regulatory-update\/"},"modified":"2013-12-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-01T00:00:00","slug":"occupational-safety-and-health-administration-regulatory-update","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/occupational-safety-and-health-administration-regulatory-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulatory Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the government shutdown in October, there has
\nbeen some uncertainty about the status of the Occupational Safety and Health
\nAdministration (OSHA). Now that the government is back up and running, OSHA is
\nresuming operations. During the shutdown, all OSHA litigation matters were put
\non hold while the Department of Labor attorneys who represent OSHA, as well as
\nAdministrative Law Judges with the Occupational Safety and Health Review
\nCommission, were temporarily furloughed, pending the conclusion of the shutdown.
\nIn addition, most OSHA Compliance Officers
\nwere temporarily<\/span> furloughed and OSHA inspections declined by 84% during
\nthe shutdown. A skeleton staff of Compliance Officers and other administrative
\npersonnel remained on duty to handle imminent danger situations and to respond
\nto catastrophic injury reports. All rulemaking issues were put on hiatus
\npending the outcome of the shutdown.<\/p>\n

Crystalline Silica<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

Now that the shutdown is over, OSHA rulemaking has
\nstarted to move forward again. On the top of the list of upcoming rules is a
\nproposed OSHA standard for crystalline silica. The fact that we are dealing
\nwith a proposed rule means we are 1 step short of having a final rule with
\nregard to new exposure limits and requirements for employee exposure to crystalline
\nsilica. The proposed rule establishes an action level for crystalline silica at
\n25 micrograms per cubic meter of air for an 8–hour day. The permissible
\nexposure limit for crystalline silica has been reduced from 250 micrograms per
\ncubic meter to 50 micrograms per cubic meter, averaged over an 8–hour day. This
\nis an 80% reduction in the permissible exposure limit.<\/p>\n

The proposed standard also
\nrequires that worker access be limited in areas in which they might be exposed
\nto crystalline silica above the permissible exposure limit. The standard also
\nrequires the use of engineering and\/or administrative controls to control dust
\nexposure before personal protective equipment may be used as a means of
\nreducing breathing zone exposure to crystalline silica. In other words, when
\nyou believe your employees are going to be exposed to crystalline silica, you
\nwill be required to do exposure monitoring. If you find that you are above the
\npermissible exposure level, you must use engineering controls such as wetting
\ndown dust that may contain silica, using localized exhaust or dust collection
\nsystems to remove crystalline silica dust from the employees’ breathing zone,
\nor you must implement administrative controls to reduce the exposure to below
\nthe permissible exposure limit.<\/p>\n

If engineering and
\nadministrative controls do not reduce the employee exposure to below the
\npermissible exposure limit, respirators are permissible. Please remember that
\nif you require employees to wear respirators, you must also have a personal
\nrespirator protection program as required under 1910.134 of Title 29 of the
\nCode of Federal Regulations.<\/p>\n

Also, for any employees who are
\nexposed above the permissible exposure limit for 30 days or more per year, you
\nare required to offer the employee medical examinations including chest x–rays
\nand pulmonary function tests every 3 years. Remember that the permissible
\nexposure limit is measured in the breathing zone, without a respirator. Even
\nthough exposure inside a respirator will be below the permissible exposure
\nlimit, the examinations must still be offered. The standard also requires that
\nemployers train their workers on how to limit their exposure in operations that
\nresult in any silica exposure. Finally, employers are required to keep records
\nof worker exposures and medical examinations. <\/p>\n

As you can see, this new silica
\nstandard is somewhat onerous as it applies to construction contractors. Do not
\nforget that the application of this standard applies to your employees even if
\nthe dust to which your employees are exposed is not generated by you. For
\nexample, consider a job site on which your employees are performing insulation
\nwork in an area where another contractor’s employees are sawing concrete and
\nare not using a dust collection system or wetting the dust they are generating.
\nIn this situation, you would definitely be required to do initial exposure
\nmonitoring for your employees to determine whether they are being exposed for
\nrespirable silica at or above the action level. In most cases like this, you
\nwould not have any rights to require the other contractor to either wet down
\nthe dust or to employ some form of dust collection. However, in this situation,
\nit would be a good idea to document your request to the other contractor to
\neliminate or minimize any dust being generated by its employees. This will
\ndemonstrate that you have taken appropriate steps with engineering or
\nadministrative controls to reduce your employees’ exposure to dust and, failing
\nthat, you are using personal respiratory protective equipment.<\/p>\n

Following issuance of the
\nproposed rule in September 2013, OSHA established December 11, 2013 as the
\ncutoff for written comments and set March 4, 2014 as the date for public
\nhearings. OSHA initially established November 12, 2013 as the deadline for
\nsubmitting a notice of intention to appear at an informal public hearing. As a
\nresult of the government shutdown, and requests made by various stakeholders,
\nthese dates have been modified. As of the writing of this article, the deadline
\nto submit written comments is now January 27, 2014; the deadline to submit
\nnotice of intent to appear at an informal public hearing has been rescheduled
\nfor December 12, 2013; and the public hearings are scheduled to begin on March
\n18, 2014. OSHA anticipates that public hearings will continue for several
\nweeks.<\/p>\n

Tracking Workplace Injuries and Illnesses<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

In an OSHA news
\nrelease dated November 7, 2013, the agency issued a proposed rule “to improve
\nworkplace safety and health through improved tracking of workplace injuries and
\nillnesses.” The issuance of this proposed rule followed the release of OSHA’s
\nannual occupational injuries and illness report, which indicated that 3 million
\nworkers were injured on the job in 2012. See page 36 for more information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. David Michaels, the Assistant
\nSecretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, was quoted as stating,
\n“With the changes being proposed in this rule, employers, employees, the
\ngovernment, and researchers will have better access to data that will encourage
\nearlier abatement of hazards and result in improved programs to reduce
\nworkplace hazards and prevent injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. The proposal
\ndoes not add any new requirement to keep records; it only modifies an
\nemployer’s obligation to transmit these records to OSHA.”<\/p>\n

OSHA reports that it developed
\nthis proposed rule following a series of meetings held with stakeholders in
\n2010 to gather information about electronic submission of organization–specific
\ninjury and illness data. According to the agency, “OSHA is proposing to amend
\nits current recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic
\nsubmission of injury and illness information employers are already required to
\nkeep under existing standards.” The initial proposal will apply to establishments
\nof more than 250 employees, requiring them to electronically submit their
\nrecords to OSHA quarterly. It is also proposed that “establishments with 20 or
\nmore employees, in certain industries with high injury and illness rates, be
\nrequired to submit electronically only their summary of work–related injuries
\nand illnesses to OSHA once a year.” At this time, the scope of those “certain
\nindustries”—and whether or to what degree they include the National Insulation
\nAssociation (NIA) membership base—is not defined.<\/p>\n

As with any such proposed rule,
\nthe public has 90 days—through February 16, 2014—to submit written comments.
\nOSHA has scheduled a public meeting concerning the proposed rule in Washington,
\nD.C. on January 9, 2014.<\/p>\n

Hazard Communication<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

The preceding 2
\nsections cover new regulatory initiatives by OSHA; this part of our update is
\nintended to discuss the new hazard communication standard and the December 1,
\n2013 date for employers to have completed training under the standard.<\/p>\n

\u00a0By the time this article is published, the date
\nwill have passed; but it is important that all readers be aware of the fact
\nthat this training requirement applies to everyone. If
\nyou have not completed training prior to December 1, 2013, this is something
\nyou should take care of immediately. Under the new hazard communication
\nstandard, the training required covers the new labelling requirements under the
\nnew standard, as well as training employees to understand information provided
\non the newly formatted safety data sheets.<\/p>\n

Training for employees on the
\nnew labels required by OSHA includes how to interpret signal words that are
\nrequired on the labels, pictograms, hazard statements, and precautionary
\nstatements. Employees also are to be trained on how to use information found on
\nthe new labels. <\/p>\n

“Signal words” are those words
\nthat are used to indicate the relative level of severity of the hazard. There
\nare only 2 different signal words available for use: “danger,” which is used
\nfor more severe hazards; and “warning,” which is used for less severe hazards.
\nThe key to this training is to be sure employees understand that the signal
\nword that appears on the label identifies the most severe hazards posed by the
\nmaterial.<\/p>\n

Employees also need to be aware
\nthat there are 8 pictograms that may appear on any label. There are pictograms
\nfor flammables, oxidizers, irritants and sensitizers, explosives, corrosives,
\ngases under pressure, carcinogens, and materials with acute toxicity. Each of
\nthese 8 categories has its own pictogram, and it is important that employees
\nunderstand each pictogram and what it means to them if it appears on the label
\nof the material they are about to use.<\/p>\n

Hazard statements are used to
\ndescribe the nature of the hazard posed by the material and, where appropriate,
\nthe degree of that hazard. Employees must be instructed that all applicable
\nhazard statements will appear on the material label. Precautionary statements
\nthat also may appear on the label are phrases that describe recommended
\nmeasures that should be taken by employees to minimize or prevent any adverse
\neffects resulting from exposure to the hazardous chemical. <\/p>\n

Training on how employees can
\nuse the label information also includes understanding proper storage of the
\nmaterial based upon label information, how to quickly locate information on
\nfirst aid, and how different pictograms are used to identify various hazards.<\/p>\n

The other area of training that
\nmust be completed by December 1, 2013 addresses the new safety data sheet
\nformat. Employees should be trained on the new 16–section format, including
\nwhat information can be found in each section and how the information on the
\nlabel is related to the safety data sheet.<\/p>\n

While additional training will
\nbe required as time goes on with regard to this new standard, the preceding
\nsummary identifies the training that should be completed by December 1, 2013.
\nBusiness owners and managers should create a strategy to educate their
\nemployees and ensure their business is compliant with all OSHA standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the government shutdown in October, there has been some uncertainty about the status of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Now that the government is back up and running, OSHA is resuming operations. During the shutdown, all OSHA litigation matters were put on hold while the Department of Labor attorneys who represent OSHA,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":[44],"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[298,34,24,21,32],"class_list":["post-6870","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-installation","category-industrial","category-contracting","category-business-managment","category-health-and-safety","author-gary-auman"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOccupational Safety and Health Administration Regulatory Update - Insulation Outlook Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/occupational-safety-and-health-administration-regulatory-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulatory Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the government shutdown in October, there has been some uncertainty about the status of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Now that the government is back up and running, OSHA is resuming operations. 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