OSHA Releases Fall 2018 Regulatory Agenda

10/26/2018

Last week, the Department of Labor released its fall 2018 regulatory agenda. Issued by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs twice a year, the agenda provides the status and projected dates for all regulations listed in three stages – pre-rule, proposed rule and final rule.

While this agenda didn’t reveal any major surprises, it did provide more clarity around proposed regulations expected to affect those in the EHS industry the most, including:

• OSHA is continuing to conduct rulemaking to harmonize its Hazard Communication Standard to the latest edition of the GHS and codify a number of enforcement policies that have been issued since the agency first incorporated it in 2012. A new date of March 2019 has been set for these changes.

• The partial rollback of OSHA’s Electronic Recordkeeping Rule has moved to the final rule stage in this latest agenda, with a final rule slated for publication in June 2019. The agency plans to allow certain employers to submit only Form 300A data electronically and will no longer require data from Forms 300 or 301.

• OSHA is expected to issue proposed changes to provisions in its beryllium standard for general industry in December, which will affect methods of compliance, beryllium work areas, regulated areas, personal protective clothing and equipment, hygiene facilities and practices, housekeeping, communication of hazards and recordkeeping.

• OSHA’s Standards Improvement Project IV, which is intended to remove or revise duplicate, unnecessary, and inconsistent health and safety standards, is expected to be finalized in December after OIRA review.

• Through an RFI and public meetings, OSHA is considering updating its Emergency Response and Preparedness Currently in the pre-rule stage, the updates would be aimed at addressing more of the hazards and concerns currently facing emergency responders, as well as the major developments in safety and health practices that have already been accepted by the emergency response community and incorporated into industry consensus standards.

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