29 CFR Part 1926, Subpart N - Helicopters, Hoists, Elevators, and Conveyors

In accordance with the Presidential directive as expressed in the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” this action proposes, following a brief 10-day comment period, to further temporarily delay until May 20, 2017 the effective date of the rule entitled Occupational Exposure to Beryllium, published in the Federal Register on January 9, 2017 (82 FR 2470). The current effective date is March 21, 2017. This additional delay will allow OSHA officials the opportunity for further review and consideration of the new regulations.

In accordance with the Presidential directive as expressed in the memorandum of January 20, 2017, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” this action temporarily delays until March 21, 2017 the effective date of the rule entitled Occupational Exposure to Beryllium, published in the Federal Register on January 9, 2017 (82 FR 2470), to allow OSHA officials the opportunity for further review and consideration of new regulations.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is amending its existing standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds. OSHA has determined that employees exposed to beryllium at the previous permissible exposure limits face a significant risk of material impairment to their health. The evidence in the record for this rulemaking indicates that workers exposed to beryllium are at increased risk of developing chronic beryllium disease and lung cancer. This final rule establishes new permissible exposure limits of 0.2 micrograms of beryllium per cubic meter of air (0.2 μg/m 3 ) as an 8-hour time-weighted average and 2.0 μg/m 3 as a short-term exposure limit determined over a sampling period of 15 minutes. It also includes other provisions to protect employees, such as requirements for exposure assessment, methods for controlling exposure, respiratory protection, personal protective clothing and equipment, housekeeping, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping. OSHA is issuing three separate standards—for general industry, for shipyards, and for construction—in order to tailor requirements to the circumstances found in these sectors.

On October 4, 2016, OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) titled “Standards Improvement Project-Phase IV.” The period for submitting comments is being extended 30 days to allow parties affected by the rule more time to review the proposed rule and collect information and data necessary for comments.

In response to the President's Executive Order 13563, “Improving Regulations and Regulatory Review,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is continuing its efforts to remove or revise outdated, duplicative, unnecessary, and inconsistent requirements in its safety and health standards. The current review, the fourth in this ongoing effort, is called Standards Improvement Project-Phase IV (SIP-IV). The goal of the proposed rulemaking is to reduce regulatory burden while maintaining or enhancing employees' safety and health. SIP-IV focuses primarily on OSHA's construction standards.

OSHA published a final rule on occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica on March 25, 2016 which became effective on June 23, 2016. This document corrects typographical errors in the final rule by revising these sections.

This rule is a technical amendment revising OSHA's regulations to reflect the approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the collections of information contained in OSHA's standard for Confined Spaces in Construction.

This rule is a technical amendment announcing that OMB has approved the collections of information contained in OSHA's standards for Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and revising OSHA's regulations to reflect that approval. The OMB approval number is 1218-0266.

OSHA is rescheduling the informal public hearing on its proposed rule “Occupational Exposure to Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds.” The public hearing will now begin on Monday March 21, 2016 at 2 p.m., local time. The public hearing notice was published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2015. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on August 7, 2015 and the 90-day public comment period ended on November 5, 2015. The December 30, 2015 Federal Register notice of informal public hearing describes the procedures that will govern this hearing http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=OSHA-H005C-2006-0870-1706. All other information from this Federal Register notice remains the same.

OSHA is scheduling an informal public hearing on its proposed rule “Occupational Exposure to Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds.” The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on August 7, 2015 and the 90-day public comment period ended on November 5, 2015. This document describes the procedures that will govern this hearing.

This document corrects the electrical safety-related work practices standard for general industry and the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution standards for general industry and construction to provide additional clarification regarding the applicability of the standards to certain operations, including some tree trimming work that is performed near (but that is not on or directly associated with) electric power generation, transmission, and distribution installations. This document also corrects minor errors in two minimum approach distance tables in the general industry and construction standards for electric power generation, transmission and distribution work.

OSHA is adding a new subpart to provide protections to employees working in confined spaces in construction. This new subpart replaces OSHA's one training requirement for confined space work with a comprehensive standard that includes a permit program designed to protect employees from exposure to many hazards associated with work in confined spaces, including atmospheric and physical hazards. The final rule is similar in content and organization to the general industry confined spaces standard, but also incorporates several provisions from the proposed rule to address construction-specific hazards, accounts for advancements in technology, and improves enforceability of the requirements.

OSHA is aware of employee safety risks in communication tower construction and maintenance activities and is requesting information from the public on these risks. This RFI requests information that will assist the Agency in determining what steps, if any, it can take to prevent injuries and fatalities during tower work.

OSHA is extending the comment period on the Request for Information on Chemical Management and Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) to October 9, 2015.

ACCSH will hold a special meeting March 31-April 1, 2015, in Washington, DC, to consider a proposed rule to revise OSHA's crane operator qualification requirement in the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard.

OSHA is reviewing its overall approach to managing chemical exposures in the workplace and seeks stakeholder input about more effective and efficient approaches that addresses challenges found with the current regulatory approach. This review involves considering issues related to updating permissible exposure limits (PELs), as well as examining other strategies that could be implemented to address workplace conditions where workers are exposed to chemicals. The notice details the role of past court decisions on the Agency's current approach to chemical management for the purpose of informing stakeholders of the legal framework in which the Agency must operate. It then describes possible modifications of existing processes, along with potential new sources of data and alternative approaches the Agency may consider. The Agency is particularly interested in information about how it may take advantage of newer approaches, given its legal requirements. This RFI is concerned primarily with chemicals that cause adverse health effects from long-term occupational exposure, and is not related to activities being conducted under Executive Order 13650, Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security.

OSHA is extending its November 10, 2014, deadline for employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by three years, until November 10, 2017. OSHA is also extending its employer duty to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely for the same three-year period.

On April 11, 2014 (79 FR 20316), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a final rule: Revising the general industry standards for electric power generation, transmission, and distribution work and for electrical protective equipment; revising the construction standard for electric power transmission and distribution work; and adopting a new construction standard for electrical protective equipment. The final rule updated those standards and made the general industry and construction standards consistent. This document corrects errors in the preamble and regulatory text of the final rule.

This notice schedules an informal public hearing on OSHA's proposed extension of the crane-operator certification deadline and the separate existing employer duty to ensure that their crane operators are competent. The Agency proposed three-year extensions for both, from November 10, 2014, to November 10, 2017.

OSHA last issued rules for the construction of transmission and distribution installations in 1972. Those provisions are now out of date and inconsistent with the more recently promulgated general industry standard covering the operation and maintenance of electric power generation, transmission, and distribution lines and equipment. OSHA is revising the construction standard to make it more consistent with the general industry standard and is making some revisions to both the construction and general industry requirements. The final rules for general industry and construction include new or revised provisions on host employers and contractors, training, job briefings, fall protection, insulation and working position of employees working on or near live parts, minimum approach distances, protection from electric arcs, deenergizing transmission and distribution lines and equipment, protective grounding, operating mechanical equipment near overhead power lines, and working in manholes and vaults. The revised standards will ensure that employers, when appropriate, must meet consistent requirements for work performed under the construction and general industry standards. The final rule also revises the general industry and construction standards for electrical protective equipment. The existing construction standard for the design of electrical protective equipment, which applies only to electric power transmission and distribution work, adopts several national consensus standards by reference. The new standard for electrical protective equipment, which matches the corresponding general industry standard, applies to all construction work and replaces the incorporation of out-of-date consensus standards with a set of performance-oriented requirements that is consistent with the latest revisions of the relevant consensus standards. The final construction rule also includes new requirements for the safe use and care of electrical protective equipment to complement the equipment design provisions. Both the general industry and construction standards for electrical protective equipment will include new requirements for equipment made of materials other than rubber. OSHA is also revising the general industry standard for foot protection. This standard applies to employers performing work on electric power generation, transmission, and distribution installations, as well as employers in other industries. The final rule removes the requirement for employees to wear protective footwear as protection against electric shock.

On August 9, 2010, OSHA issued a final standard establishing requirements for cranes and derricks used in construction work. The standard requires employers to ensure that crane operators are certified by November 10, 2014. Until that date, employers also have added duties under the standard to ensure that crane operators are trained and competent to operate the crane safely. The Agency is proposing to extend the deadline for operator certification by three years to November 10, 2017, and to extend the existing employer duties for the same period.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is extending the deadline for submitting comments and written testimony on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica.

With this notice, OSHA is withdrawing the proposed rule that accompanied its direct final rule revising its signage standards for general industry and construction.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is extending the deadline for submitting comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica for an additional 47 days and extending the deadline for submitting notices of intention to appear at its informal public hearings for an additional 30 days. OSHA also is delaying the start of the public hearings by two weeks.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposes to amend its existing standards for occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The basis for issuance of this proposal is a preliminary determination by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health that employees exposed to respirable crystalline silica face a significant risk to their health at the current permissible exposure limits and that promulgating these proposed standards will substantially reduce that risk. This document proposes a new permissible exposure limit, calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average, of 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air (50 μg/m 3 ). OSHA also proposes other ancillary provisions for employee protection such as preferred methods for controlling exposure, respiratory protection, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping. OSHA is proposing two separate regulatory texts—one for general industry and maritime, and the other for construction—in order to tailor requirements to the circumstances found in these sectors.

OSHA published a direct final rule and a companion notice of proposed rulemaking on November 9, 2012, to broaden the exemption for digger derricks in its construction standard for cranes and derricks. OSHA received a significant adverse comment on the direct final rule during the comment period, and as a result, OSHA withdrew the direct final rule on February 7, 2013. After considering this comment, OSHA is issuing this final rule based on the notice of proposed rulemaking.

On August 17, 2012, OSHA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, as well as a companion direct final rule, that proposed applying the requirements in OSHA's 2010 cranes and derricks construction standard to underground construction work and demolition work. The notice of proposed rulemaking also proposed to correct inadvertent errors in the underground construction and demolition standards. After receiving a comment recommending that OSHA clarify the proposed regulatory text of the demolition standard, OSHA clarified the text and is issuing this final rule to apply the cranes and derricks standard to underground construction work and demolition work.

OSHA is correcting its regulations that were amended by the Hazard Communication Standard final rule, published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2012. The majority of the corrections are to references inadvertently missed in the original publication of the final rule. Other corrections include correcting values or notations in tables, and updating references to terms.

OSHA published a direct final rule and a companion notice of proposed rulemaking on November 9, 2012, to broaden the exemption for digger derricks in its construction standard for cranes and derricks. OSHA received a significant adverse comment on the direct final rule and is, therefore, withdrawing the direct final rule. OSHA will issue a final rule at a later date based on the notice of proposed rulemaking.

OSHA is initiating a regulatory review of its existing safety and health standards in response to the President's Executive Order 13563, “Improving Regulations and Regulatory Review” (76 FR 38210). The Agency conducted similar regulatory reviews of its existing standards previously as “standards improvement projects.” OSHA is issuing this request for information to initiate another of these regulatory reviews, and naming this review the Standards Improvement Project—Phase IV (SIP-IV). The purpose of SIP-IV is to improve and streamline OSHA standards by removing or revising requirements that are confusing or outdated, or that duplicate, or are inconsistent with, other standards. The purpose of the regulatory review is to reduce regulatory burden while maintaining or enhancing employees' safety and health. SIP-IV will focus primarily on OSHA's construction standards. The purpose of this notice is to invite the public, including employers, employees, and employee representatives involved in the construction industry, to submit recommendations for revisions to existing construction standards, including the rationale for these recommendations. OSHA will review this information to determine the need for, and the content of, any subsequent SIP-IV rulemaking.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is announcing that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the revised information collection requirements contained in the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) (29 CFR parts 1910, 1915, and 1926) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA-95). The OMB control number is 1218-0072.

OSHA is correcting the medical evaluation questionnaire in Appendix C of its Respiratory Protection standard by removing the term “fits” in a question. OSHA also is correcting its Mechanical Power Presses standard for general industry by restoring requirements that were removed inadvertently from the regulatory text. Finally, the Agency is correcting a cross reference made in two paragraphs in Appendix A to subpart L of its scaffold standards for construction.