OSHA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking Feb. 10 to extend the compliance date for the crane operator certification requirement by three years to Nov. 10, 2017. 

ABC is reminding its contractor member firms that 2013 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300A work-related injury and illness log summaries must be posted in a visible spot on all construction sites Feb. 1 through April 30. 

OSHA Jan. 24 announced a 15-day extension of the public comment deadline for OSHA’s proposed crystalline silica rulemaking, moving the deadline from Jan. 27 to Feb. 11. The extension comes in response to an error on OSHA’s public comment submission page, which was first identified by ABC and brought to OSHA’s attention. 

OSHA held an informal public meeting Jan. 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C., to receive public feedback on a proposed rule that would require employers to submit to the agency electronically detailed injury and illness data that would be made publicly available through an online database. Employer groups, including the ABC-led Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS), took the opportunity to express serious concerns over OSHA’s proposal. 

According to OSHA’s latest semiannual regulatory agenda, released Nov. 27, the agency plans to issue a final rule on confined spaces and a notice of proposed rulemaking on injury and illness prevention programs (I2P2) in 2014. The regulatory agenda lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release this year; however, OSHA is not required to adhere to the timeline.

On Nov.8, OSHA proposed a rule that would require employers to submit specific injury and illness data electronically to OSHA on a quarterly or annual basis. 

Employers have until Dec. 1 to train their employees on the changes made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Global Harmonization Standard (GHS) including the new “Safety Data Sheets” (SDS).  

ABC and the Construction Industry Safety Coalition sent letters Sept. 27 to Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels requesting a 90-day extension for submitting written comments related to OSHA’s proposed crystalline silica rulemaking, whichdrastically lowers the existing permissible exposure limit for respirable silica in the construction industry. 

ABC and members of the newly formed Construction Industry Safety Coalition, a group of national construction industry trade associations, expressed concern over a proposal from OSHA addressing crystalline silica exposure in the construction industry.

On Aug. 23, OSHA unveiled its long-anticipated proposal to address crystalline silica exposure in the construction industry. As expected, the proposed rule drastically lowers the existing permissible exposure limit for respirable silica in the construction industry.