OSHA Regulatory Agenda Being Substantially Reined In

As promised, the Trump administration is rolling back regulation at OSHA

By, Robert Box

As promised, the Trump administration is rolling back regulation at the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). On July 20 of this year, OSHA released its spring regulatory agenda, which is a stripped down version of regulatory agendas released over the previous eight years. According to the update regulatory agenda from OSHA, more than half of the potential regulatory actions on OSHA’s wish list have been cut.

OSHA’s regulatory agenda is normally released twice a year and reveals the status and forecasted dates for all regulations. The updated regulatory agenda lists only 14 OSHA regulations in three stages: Pre-rule, Proposed Rule and Final Rule. In the fall of 2016, OSHA released its regulatory agenda, which sported a staggering 30 regulations.

Regulations OSHA Is Abandoning

OSHA will no longer pursue regulation of worker exposure to the following:

• Combustible dust
• Construction noise
• Prevention of vehicle back-over injuries and fatalities in construction and general industry
• Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) update
• Bloodborne Pathogens
• 1-Bromopropane (1-BP) Standard
• Occupational Exposure to Styrene
• Hearing protection requirement updates including the need for fit testing

Regulations That Are Not Dead Yet

OSHA has moved a good number of proposed rulemaking ambitions to the back burner in what it calls the “Long term actions” list, including:

• Emergency Response and Preparedness
• Amendments to the Crane and Derricks in Construction Standard
• Infectious Diseases in the Healthcare Industry
• Update to the Hazard Communication Standard
• Process Safety Management and Major Chemical Incident Prevention
• Shipyard Fall Protection (Scaffolds, Ladders, & Other Working Surfaces)
• A Tree Care Standard
• Prevention of Workplace Violence in Health Care
• Occupational Injury and Illness Recording & Reporting Requirements to include a Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) Column
• Rules of Agency Practice and Procedure Concerning OSHA Access to Employee Medical Records

Regulations Still Alive

A solitary regulation called, “Standards Improvement Project IV” is the only one in the final rule stage. Other regulations that OSHA will actually be working to push towards the final rule stage are those regulations that purportedly have industry buy-in, including:

• Communication Tower Safety
• Powered Industrial Truck Update
• Mechanical Power Presses Update
• Lock-Out/Tag-Out Update
• Blood Lead Level for Medical Removal

Businesses have been largely supportive of the new regulatory agenda published by OSHA. Marc Freedman, executive director of labor law policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported to Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs, “This suggests that the agency is taking a responsible approach to regulating and trying to focus on those areas where there is the most need, and to do so in a way that respects the various interests at stake.”

Robert Box is the owner of Safety First Consulting and is a contributor of SM Corridor News. Box helps businesses identify OSHA compliance issues in their workplaces, manage their safety programs and become accountable for the results. In addition to offering custom written safety programs for companies, Safety First Consulting provides required safety training, industrial hygiene sampling, noise sampling and workplace inspections. You can read more from Robert Box under Business.