The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday issued a final rule to extend the compliance date for specific ancillary requirements of the general industry beryllium standard to Dec. 12, 2018.
The extension affects provisions for methods of compliance, beryllium work areas, regulated areas, personal protective clothing and equipment, hygiene facilities and practices, housekeeping, communication of hazards, and recordkeeping, according to a press statement.
OSHA has determined that the extension will maintain essential safety and health protections for workers while the agency prepares a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify certain provisions of the beryllium standard that would maintain the standard’s worker safety and health protections, and address employers’ compliance burdens, according to the statement.
OSHA began enforcing the new permissible exposure limits for general industry, construction, and shipyards, and the general industry provisions for exposure assessment, respiratory protection, medical surveillance, and medical removal on May 11, 2018; requirements that are unaffected by this rule, according to the statement. OSHA says this compliance date extension does not affect the compliance dates for other requirements of the general industry beryllium standard.
Any provisions for which the standard already establishes compliance dates in 2019 (change rooms and showers) or 2020 (engineering controls) are also unaffected by this rule, according to the statement.
Supporters of the current U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration beryllium regulation have vowed to defend the Obama-era version against an attempt by the Trump administration to modify the rule.