The Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA is amending its personal protective equipment (PPE)regulations to clarify that noncompliance may expose an employer to liability on a per-employee basis, according to information published in the Federal Register August 19.
The amendments refer to changes to the language of some existing respirator and training requirements. OSHA issued the proposed rule (29 CFR Parts 1910, 1915, 1917, 1918 and 1926) after it was determined that differences in wording among the various PPE and training provisions in OSHA safety and health standards affect the agency's ability to treat an employer's failure to provide PPE or training to each covered employee as a separate violation.
The amendments add no new compliance obligations, according to the information. Employers are not required to provide any new type of PPE or training, to provide PPE or training to any employee not already covered by the existing requirements, or to provide PPE or training in a different manner than that already required.
Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent or received) by September 18, 2008, according to the information.
The proposed rule can be seen in the Federal Register by clicking here.