The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has finalized its June 27, 2017, proposal to revise the construction and shipyards standards for beryllium.
In the final rule, to be published on Sept. 30, 2019, OSHA:
- Does not implement the proposal to revoke all of the standards’ ancillary provisions; but
- Extends the compliance dates for the ancillary provisions to September 2020 to account for OSHA’s new proposal to revise or remove specific provisions; and
- Maintains enforcement of the permissible exposure limit.
In a forthcoming rulemaking, OSHA will publish a proposal to amend the beryllium standards for construction and shipyards by more appropriately tailoring the requirements of the standards to the exposures in these industries. The proposed changes would maintain safety and health protections for workers, facilitate compliance with the standards, and increase cost savings, according to OSHA.
Summary: OSHA initially planned to scrap safety rules protecting construction and shipyard workers from beryllium exposure because, as critics pointed out, other OSHA standards already provided such protection, but with this announcement the agency has reversed course and will retain the beryllium standard from the Obama administration, while extending the compliance deadline.