OSHA issues final hazard abatement rule
June 1, 1997 2 minutes read
OSHA issues final hazard abatement rule
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a new rule that requires employers to notify OSHA and inform employees that they have abated workplace hazards identified by inspectors.1 The rule is expected to save employers $6 million per year.
The rule will ensure that workers are fully informed about serious hazards and actions taken to eliminate them. OSHA also expects to save on resources formerly expended to verify hazard abatement, says Gregory R. Watchman, acting assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.
As of May 30, the effective date of the new rule, employers were relieved of burdens that former verification procedures imposed on them. When employers eliminate hazards during the course of an inspection, OSHA will not require them to prepare and submit abatement certification documents. Employers also do not have to document actions taken to relieve relatively minor violations ("other-than-serious"), as well as many violations classified as "serious."
"Employees will benefit in two ways," says Watchman. "They will know about specific actions being taken to abate the more serious hazards. They also will be warned about citations issued for more serious violations involving movable equipment."
Under the final regulation:
• Violations immediately abated require no abatement certification.
• A simple abatement letter is required to verify abatement for other-than-serious and many serious violations. A sample format is provided in an appendix to the final rule. OSHA estimates that 90% of all abatements will require only a simple letter.
• Employers are required to provide additional documentation of abatement only for more serious violations.
• Abatement plans and progress reports may be required for more serious violations with abatement periods that exceed 90 days.
• Affected employees must be informed about specific abatement activities.
• For movable equipment that has serious hazards, a copy of the citation or a warning tag containing information that conforms with a sample tag supplied by OSHA must be placed on the cited equipment to alert employees to the hazard. For hand-held equipment, the tag must be applied upon receipt of the citation. For nonhand-held equipment, the tag must be applied before the equipment is moved.
The regulation provides examples of abatement documents and warning tags. In addition to the Federal Register, the rule also is available on the OSHA home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.osha.gov/.
Reference
1. U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Abatement verification. Fed Reg 1997; 62:15,324-15,340.
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