OSHA once again has pushed back the compliance date for some ancillary requirements of the general industry beryllium standard.
The new extension date, Dec. 12, 2018, affects provisions for methods of compliance, beryllium work areas, regulated areas, personal protective clothing and equipment, hygiene facilities and practices, housekeeping, communication of hazards and recordkeeping. However, the date for other requirements of the standard have not changed.
This compliance date extension does not affect the compliance dates for other requirements of the general industry beryllium standard. The agency's goal is to maintain essential safety and health protections for workers while it prepares a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to clarify certain provisions of the beryllium standard that would maintain the standard’s worker safety and health protections as well as address employers’ compliance burdens.
OSHA began enforcing the new permissible exposure limits for general industry, construction, and shipyards and the general industry provisions for exposure assessment, respiratory protection, medical surveillance and medical removal on May 11, 2018. Those requirements are unaffected by this rule.
Any provisions for which the standard already establishes compliance dates in 2019 (change rooms and showers) or 2020 (engineering controls) also are unaffected by this rule.