OSHA proposes another delay of the occupational exposure to beryllium rule’s effective date (US)

In the March 2, 2017 Federal Register, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a second delay of the effective date of its recently finalized rule regulating occupational exposure to beryllium. The final rule’s original effective date, March 10, 2017, was delayed until March 21, 2017. OSHA now seeks to delay the effective date until May 20, 2017, to allow OSHA to conduct additional reviews of the new regulations, which were initially finalized on January 9, 2017. Public comments on the proposed extension of the effective date are due by March 13, 2017.

The final rule reduced the permissible exposure limits to 0.2 micrograms of beryllium per cubic meter of air (0.2 μg/m ³) as an 8-hour time-weighted average and 2.0 μg/m ³ as a short-term exposure limit determined over a sampling period of 15 minutes, and established other requirements, including exposure assessments, control methods, respiratory protection, personal protective equipment, housekeeping, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping. Three separate rules, one each for general industry, shipyards, and construction, were issued to provide tailored requirements in each industry.

Sources:

OSHA, Proposed delay of effective date, Occupational exposure to beryllium, 82 FR 12318, March 2, 2017