Under the Obama administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is
stepping up its efforts to enforce regulation
compliance. More emphasis and resources
are being allocated to enforcement tactics
such as increasing inspections, penalties,
and fines. OSHA recently released a new
semiannual regulatory agenda that lists the
regulations selected for review or development during the coming year as well as
those completed during the past six
months. Several key points of this agenda
affect the metal fabricating industry and
most likely your own business.
Familiarizing yourself with some of
OSHA’s recent and planned actions will help
you to better understand what is happening
now and what to expect in the future.
The Cr(VI) Standard:
Compliance Is Key
OSHA’s hexavalent chromium standard,
originally published in 2006, went into full
effect in May 2010. Earlier this year the
administration initiated a Hexavalent
Chromium National Emphasis Program
(NEP) to help identify and eliminate health
hazards associated with exposure to Cr(VI).
This means that OSHA staff will conduct
inspections where workers are most likely
to be exposed, including many metal fabricating shops. Additionally, OSHA has
modified its Cr(VI) regulation requiring
companies to notify workers of any expo-
18 PRACTICAL WELDING TODAY
July/August 2010
sure, whether it is above or below the permissible exposure limit.
In light of the special focus that OSHA
is putting on the Cr(VI) standard with its
NEP and in understanding the new,
tougher enforcement approach that the
organization is taking, it is especially critical
that employers understand their obligations
with respect to Cr(VI) and are in full compliance with the new regulation.
OSHA has implemented a new Severe
Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) and is
increasing its civil penalty amounts. This
program calls for more OSHA inspections,
including mandatory OSHA follow-up inspections. SVEP became effective in June 2010.
What’s Coming Down the Pipe
Protecting America’s Workers Act. The
proposed Protecting America’s Workers Act
(PAWA) raises penalties for law violations,
strengthening workers’ voices in the workplace, expanding the rights of victims and
their families, expanding OSHA coverage to
public employees, and requiring abatement
of hazards during the citation contest period.
This act has been in committee for years,
but in the current environment it stands a
strong chance of being enacted. Watch for
activity on this act coming out of committee
for passage around Labor Day of this year.
Recordkeeping National Emphasis
Program. The Recordkeeping National
Emphasis Program set the stage for stronger
enforcement in October 2009. The goal of
this program is to assess the accuracy of
injury and illness data recorded by employers.
The recordkeeping NEP involves inspecting occupational injury and illness records
prepared by businesses and enforcing
requirements when employers are found to
be under-recording injuries and illnesses.
Inspections include records review, employee interviews, and a limited safety and
health inspection of the workplace.
Injury and Illness Prevention Program.
OSHA is developing a new rule that would
require businesses to have a proactive Injury
and Illness Prevention Program. This will
require employers to develop and implement
a program that minimizes worker exposure to
safety and health hazards.
Instead of waiting for an OSHA inspection or a workplace incident to address
workplace hazards, employers would be
required to create a plan for identifying and
correcting hazards, and then implement the
plan. Workers would also participate in the
development and implementation of such
plans. This rule would likely have huge
implications for virtually every business in
the U.S., and the economic impact would
be significant.
Combustible Dust. Another rule is
under way for combustible dust. Various
dusts, including metal dusts such as aluminum and magnesium, can cause explosions when suspended in air under certain
conditions. This new regulation would
impose safety standards for these environments, many of them metal fabrication
shops. OSHA is also developing a new rule
for crystalline silica that may affect you if
you do any abrasive sandblasting.
