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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is continuing
its reinvention efforts to provide common sense regulation. OSHA today proposed
eliminating regulations including those that require some unnecessary personal
protective equipment (PPE) and medical surveillance that duplicate rules of
other federal agencies. The move could save employers millions of dollars
annually and eliminate thousands of hours of paperwork while maintaining
employee protection.
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Joseph
A. Dear called the proposal "the result of OSHA's continuing line-by-line
review of its rules and regulations." He said, "This proposal is a substantive
change in agency regulations with the potential for significant industry
savings. We need stakeholders' feedback."
OSHA is proposing to delete requirements for semi-annual chest X-rays
and sputum examinations for exposed workers covered by the inorganic arsenic
and coke oven emission standards. Large scale medical studies have demonstrated
that annual chest X-rays are as protective to employees as semi-annual X-rays
and sputum examinations.
OSHA also is proposing removal of regulations that duplicate or
conflict with regulations of other federal agencies. For example, OSHA
regulations on marking liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, installing LPG
systems in commercial vehicles, and ensuring the safety of ammonia-transporting
trailers duplicate requirements of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Among unnecessary provisions that the proposal would eliminate are some
special industry requirements that duplicate the requirements for general
industry as a whole.
For example, in OSHA's pulp, paper and paperboard industry provisions,
regulations on personal protective equipment, electrical equipment, confined
spaces and respiratory protection would be removed because the general industry
requirements are equally protective and more performance oriented. In
requirements for the textile and sawmill industries, regulations for slings,
equipment guarding and power transmission would be removed because they
duplicate provisions applying to all general industry employment.
For workers covered by the vinyl chloride standard, OSHA proposes to
remove regulations on entry into unknown and hazardous vinyl chloride
atmospheres. The agency believes that the hazardous waste and emergency
response standard is more protective and provides greater flexibility than the
vinyl chloride requirements.
The proposal also would remove requirements that are outdated as a
result of recently published general industry standards. For example, in the
telecommunications standard, OSHA requirements for rubber-insulating equipment
(gloves and blankets) used at telecommunications centers are outdated. A new
general industry standard on electrical protective equipment covers all
rubber-insulating equipment and provides more comprehensive employee
protection.
In March 1995, President Clinton directed federal agencies to undertake
a line-by-line review of their rules and regulations to determine if they were
still needed or if they should be revised or revoked. OSHA identified five
rulemaking projects that together would eliminate at least 1,049 pages from the
approximately 3,000 pages in the OSHA sections of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR). Two projects to eliminate more than 900 pages were completed
earlier this year.
Written comments and requests for a hearing on this proposal must be
postmarked by Sept. 20, 1996.
Comments should be submitted in quadruplicate or one original (hard
copy) and one diskette (5 1/4 or 3 1/2-inch) in WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 or
6.1, or ASCII to: Docket Office, Docket No. S-778, U.S. Department of Labor,
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-2634, 200 Constitution
Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20210 (telephone (202) 219-7894). Any information
not contained on disk (e.g., studies, articles) must be submitted in
quadruplicate. Written comments limited to 10 pages in length also may be
transmitted by facsimile to (202) 219-5046, provided an original and three
copies also are sent to the Docket Office.
Requests for a hearing should be sent to Tom Hall, U.S. Department of
Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Room N-3647, 200
Constitution Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20210 (telephone (202) 219-8615.
Comments on the reduction of paperwork burden and renewal of paperwork
authorization for inorganic arsenic coke and oven emissions should be sent to
the OSHA Docket and to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB,
New Executive Office Bldg., Rm. 10235, 725 17th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.,
20503, Attn. OSHA Desk Officer.
The proposed rule is published in the Monday, July 22, 1996 Federal
Register.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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