Regulatory Reform and OSHA
OSH news sources and blogs have been busily discussing the Administration’s recent efforts to engage in regulatory reform. The lead for this effort has been taken by Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House. A look at that effort, with OSHA a key example of reform for the Administration can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/26/21st-century-regulatory-system. OSHA’s reform announcement, an upcoming a final rule on the next step in OSHA’s Standards Improvement Project, can be found at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=19905. From that news release –
“These updates will be in line with the goals of the president’s Executive Order 13563, ‘Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,’ issued Jan. 18 to simplify standards and reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens. The executive order is available at http://www.regulations.gov/exchange/sites/default/files/doc_files/President’s%20Executive%20Order%2013563_0.pdf*…
“The new rule will result in several changes to OSHA’s existing respiratory protection standard, including aligning air cylinder testing requirements for self-contained breathing apparatuses with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, clarifying that aftermarket cylinders meet National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health quality assurance requirements and clarifying that the provisions of Appendix D, which contains information for employees using respirators when not required under the standard, are mandatory if the employee chooses to use a respirator.
“Other changes to result from the new rule will include updating the definition of the term “potable water” to be consistent with the current Environmental Protection Agency standards instead of the former and outdated Public Health Service Corps definition, removing the outdated requirement that hand dryers use warm air because new technology allows employers to use hand-drying products that do not involve hot or warm air and removing two medical record requirements from the commercial-diving standard because that standard no longer requires medical examinations.
“Updates also will include deleting a number of requirements for employers to transmit exposure and medical records to NIOSH, thus saving NIOSH significant costs to store and maintain the records. According to NIOSH, these records did not serve a useful research purpose. The slings standards also will be updated and streamlined by requiring that employers use only slings marked with manufacturers’ loading information.”