The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s draft final rule on walking-working surfaces has been submitted for review to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The rule was submitted on July 2nd and it is anticipated that the review will take no more than 90 days. OSHA first proposed making revisions to this general industry standard in 1990. In the notice, OSHA highlighted four issues:
- Fall protection for workers on commercial trucks, locomotives and rail cars
- Permission for some employers, such as billboard companies, not to use fall protection equipment if a “qualified climber” performs the task
- Fall protection for workers standing on stacked materials such as steel beams and pre cast concrete products
- Anchorages on buildings for rope and cable descent systems.