Tuesday, March 4, 2014

(OSHA) Open for comment: Proposed rules on crystalline silica, workplace injury and illness tracking, and request for information on process safety management



Public hearings on OSHA’s proposed silica rule are scheduled to begin March 18, 2014, at the Department of Labor’s Frances Perkins Building in Washington, D.C. The deadline for requests to participate was Dec. 12, 2013. However, members of the public are welcome to attend and listen to testimony from OSHA, its expert witnesses and other interested parties. Those members of the public who filed a timely written notice of intention to appear can also ask questions of agency officials and other witnesses during the hearing. For additional information on the proposed rule, visit www.osha.gov/silica.

In addition, the comment period on OSHA’s proposed rule to improve workplace safety and health through improved tracking of occupational injuries and illness will be closing March 10, 2014. The proposed rule would amend OSHA’s recordkeeping regulations to add requirements for the electronic submission of injury and illness information that employers are already required to keep. It was originally scheduled to close March 8. However, this date falls on a Saturday. The agency will accept comments submitted March 10 as timely. Comments may be submitted electronically at www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal or by mail or facsimile. See the Federal Register notice for more details.

Finally, OSHA also has a request for information seeking public comment on potential revisions to its Process Safety Management standard and related standards, as well as other policy options to prevent major chemical incidents. The public will have until March 10, 2014 to submit written comments. The RFI is in response to Executive Order 13650, which seeks to improve chemical facility safety and security, issued in the wake of the April 2013 West, Texas, tragedy that killed 15 in an ammonium nitrate explosion. For more information, visit the Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security Web page.

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