OSHA Updating Fire Protection Standard for Shipyards

OSHA issued a revised fire protection final rule for shipyard employment in September 2004 that incorporated 19 NFPA standards. NFPA subsequently updated a number of these consensus standards. Because the newer standards had not been included in the 2004 proposal, the public had not been given adequate notice to allow the agency to reference them in the final rule, according to OSHA.

The direct final rule adds 10 updated NFPA standards to OSHA's shipyard fire protection standard and requires employers to use the more recent versions.

The updated standards also incorporate some newer technologies for fire protection equipment.