OSHA proposes new respirator noncompliance regulation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published a proposed regulation to amend the Remedy for Violation of Requirements to Provide Personal Protective Equipment and Train Employees regulation currently in place. Specifically, this proposal clarifies that “noncompliance with the personal protective equipment (PPE) and training requirements in safety and health standards may expose the employer to liability on a per-employee basis.”

The regulations would not require employers to provide a new type of PPE or training, or to cover employees that were not previously covered by existing requirements. The proposed regulation’s purpose is to spell out solutions for violations of existing requirements, and to create a standard throughout OSHA provisions so that the agency is able to deal with an employer’s failure to provide the required training and/or PPE as individual violations.

OSHA’s regulatory additions include:

• Personal protective equipment. Standards in this part requiring the employer to provide personal protective equipment (PPE), including respirators, because of hazards to employees impose a separate compliance duty to each employee covered by the requirement. The employer must provide PPE to each employee required to use the PPE, and each failure to provide PPE to an employee may be considered a separate violation.

• Training. Standards in this part requiring training on hazards and related matters, such as standards requiring that employees receive training or that the employer train employees, provide training to employees, or institute or implement a training program, impose a separate compliance duty to each employee covered by the requirement. The employer must train each affected employee in the manner required by the standard, and each failure to train an employee may be considered a separate violation.

To review the entire proposed regulation, visit the Automotive Service Association’s legislative Web site, www.TakingTheHill.com. Comments to OSHA on the proposed changes must be postmarked, sent or received by Sept. 18, 2008.