Administration Seeks Clarity, Simplification of Beryllium Standard
Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposal to revise the beryllium standard for general industry. OSHA’s proposed changes are intended to clarify sections of the rule while simplifying and improving compliance with the standard.
Related: How to Keep Up With The Beryllium Standard
The proposed rule would amend the following paragraphs of the standard:
Definitions – OSHA seeks to clarify and change the definitions of specific key terms used in the standard.
Written Exposure Control Plan – OSHA addresses the written Exposure Control Plan that employers must establish, implement, and maintain. The proposed rule specifies which info must be included in the plan.
Personal Protective Clothing + Equipment – OSHA is proposing two revisions regarding PPE including addressing removal and storage as well as the laundering, cleaning, and repairing.
Hygiene Areas & Practices – OSHA is proposing three changes that will clarify wording and requirements for hygiene practices.
Housekeeping – OSHA is proposing general changes to disposal and recycling provisions as well as addressing the issue of reuse.
Medical Surveillance – The new proposal included two changes to medical surveillance. This includes a new provision that would make employers responsible for providing a medical examination within 30 days of seeing signs of CBD or beryllium-related health effects in an employee.
OSHA also expanded on a paragraph that requires employers to provide free CBD diagnostic tests for employees within a reasonable time following exposure.
Recordkeeping – OSHA proposed removing the requirement to include each employee’s social security number in the monitoring data, medical surveillance, and training provisions.
Next Steps
This proposal will address many of the issues that stakeholders had about certain provisions in the 2017 final beryllium rule. This proposed rule could potentially affect 50,500 general industry employees. OSHA expects these changes to yield equal health and safety for employees as the last rule, while providing more clarification for employers.
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With these proposed changes, employers will be required to take extra proactive steps in worker health. Medical surveillance is a comprehensive health & safety program that can keep your workplace in compliance. Worksite Medical can come directly to your jobsite for convenient mobile on-site testing with all the resources of a clinic.
Call today to schedule an appointment at 1-844-OCCUMED, or visit us online.
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