From: Safety.BLR.com
OSHA announces 2014 regulatory priorities. Are you ready?
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which includes OSHA, has issued its Fall 2013 Regulatory Agenda. The document includes 28 OSHA-related items. Keep reading to learn about OSHA’s rulemaking plans and what they mean for you and your employees.
The labor department says the regulations it is pursuing in 2014 are part of a plan/prevent/protect approach, “designed to ensure employers and other regulated entities are in full compliance with the law every day, not just when the Department of Labor engages an employer.”
The DOL is emphasizing greater openness and transparency by giving employers, workers, and others greater access to information concerning workplace conditions and expectations. The goal, says the department, is for compliance to become a more cooperative exercise.
The DOL is currently engaged in a review of existing rules to analyze whether they significantly reduce burdens on small businesses. This will continue in the new year.
OSHA anticipates several new final rules in 2014
OSHA plans to issue several final rules in 2014, as well as move proposed rules closer to implementation. Initiatives addressed in the regulatory agenda include:
- Confined spaces in construction. A final rule is expected early in 2014.
- Occupational injury and illness recording and reporting requirements. OSHA plans to revise the reporting requirements regarding the obligations of employers to report to OSHA the occurrence of fatalities and injuries that require hospitalization. A final rule is scheduled for April 2014.
- Slips and Falls—Personal Fall Protective Systems. OSHA has a final rule awaiting action by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that will incorporate personal fall protection systems into the existing general industry rule for Walking and Working Surfaces (29 CFR 1910.23) that reflects new technologies. The final rule is expected in June 2014.
- Electric power transmission and distribution. A final rule awaiting action by the OMB would update requirements for foot protection and aerial lift fall protection for electrical installations.
OSHA proposed rules moving forward in 2014