The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) April 26 hosted a live webchat to discuss its
2010 regulatory agenda, including updates on ergonomics enforcement and a new program that will require employers to implement a safety plan to find and fix worksite hazards.
During the webchat, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels said that in addition to
adding a new line on the Form 300 to record musculoskeletal injuries, OSHA will be increasing enforcement of ergonomics hazards under the general duty clause. OSHA will also be stepping up enforcement under the existing noise standards in construction, but has decided it will abandon its attempt to formally establish a hearing conservation program for construction workers.
As a counterpart to increased enforcement under existing standards, OSHA will be implementing a new initiative as part of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) program,
Plan, Prevent, Protect, which will require employers to come up with a plan to address all problems and hazards regulated by DOL agencies that affect employees. OSHA’s initiative under Plan, Prevent, Protect is an
Injury and Illness Prevention Program (dubbed I2P2) that will require employers to implement internal safety programs that will indentify, anticipate and prevent hazards that could cause injury or death to an employee.
“The approach of the new strategy is to change the culture of compliance from one in which some employers and other regulated entities wait for labor enforcement personnel to catch them violating the law to one in which employers and others proactively plan to reduce risk to workers by implementing the plan and protecting workers as a result,” Michaels said during the webchat.
As a first step, OSHA is
hosting a series of stakeholder meetings to solicit feedback on how to implement the I2P2 program, including possible regulatory approaches; the scope and application of the final rule; which industries and employers it would apply to; which hazards it would cover; and the program’s relationship to existing requirements.
The meetings are scheduled to be held June 3 in East Brunswick, N.J.; June 10 in Dallas; and June 29 in Washington, D.C. There are only fifty seats available in each session and submission deadlines for confirmed registration are May 20 for the June 3 meeting; May 27 for the June 10 meeting; and June 15 for the June 29 meeting.
To facilitate the implementation of the I2P2 program, OSHA has decided to push back the release of the notice of proposed rulemaking on silica until February 2011, but confirmed that the rule updating the existing standard for cranes and derricks is still on schedule for a July release.
For more information on OSHA’s regulatory agenda, visit the
OSHA website.