Asbestos
A stakeholder meeting was held in April. Aiming for a fall rule-publishing date. Stakeholder meetings were held June 20 in Yakima and June 28 at AGC’s Southern District office in Fife. This state-initiated change will propose to remove confusing and unnecessary language as well as add clarification where necessary throughout the rule.
Cranes
OSHA Crane operator Certification This rule will necessitate changes in Washington. Namely, the method by which an employer evaluates a crane operator prior to performing crane operations.
DOSH Incident-Reporting Requirement This clarifies requirements for when a crane needs to be re-inspected or recertified after tip-over incidents, etc. Clerical issues will also be resolved in this rulemaking. The rule language that is being looked at would require any crane that has been damaged, modified or repaired, as well as any crane involved in a tip-over, to be re-certified.
Confined Spaces
Rules are in effect now. Stay tuned for a sample policy and permit form from AGC. Also see the Safety Bulletin from JTM/AGC regarding Confined Spaces.
OSHA Record-keeping/ Reporting
Federal OSHA issued a statement on April 30 stating that all employers, regardless of state or state rulemaking, would be required to report their 2017 OSHA log data online prior to 07/01/18. DOSH issued a statement on 5/1/18 stating that the OSHA announcement does NOT impact Washington employers. We are advising our members to continue their customary record-keeping practices and we will advise when and how to report online.
OSHA- Silica
AGC filed an objection to the expedited rulemaking effort in Washington. This rulemaking would codify non-mandatory appendices in relation to medical surveillance. While the appendices are not under objection, the process is. We are also unsure of why this section of rule (non-mandatory, and simply for guidance) would need to be codified. Long-range goals include helping provide data to Federal OSHA that will expand Table One to include more tasks.
CAC subcommittee meeting scheduled for August 13 at AGC’s Southern-District office in Fife.
The compliance date for Washington is October 1st, 2018. See the Silica-Compliance Resources page on our website for more info on what to expect in Washington.
Lead
Stakeholdering has picked back up on this rule. This rulemaking still seeks to lower the PEL. AGC maintains the position that most lead over-exposures come from a deference to the rules in general and would not be greatly impacted by a PEL change but, rather, better enforcement and outreach on existing rules. A new draft is posted here.
Trolley Lines
The new directive was issued last month. As a result of this stakeholder effort, AGC has rescinded the rule petition. The directive will be reviewed in 2 years. Main changes involve utility notification and checklist system that notifies DOSH and requires the department to respond within five days.
o http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/rules/policies/pdfs/dd1870.pdf
Fall Protection
Fall Protection for Leading-Edge Work is the topic of our next Safety Summit on August 8th. AGC is partnering on this effort.
Most notable change would be changing all items from a 10-foot trigger height down to four feet.
Separate Rulemaking Effort: Unified Fall protection rule – statewide stakeholder meetings
Cone Setting
Meeting held December 1. DOSH issued response to stakeholder concerns, a final draft will be issued, and distributed to stakeholders for comment. For guidance in the interim, contact Mandi Kime or Doug Stiffarm (Miles Resources). The next meeting is scheduled for August 13th at AGC’s Southern District office in Fife.
For more information on these and other Safety & Health Rule issues, please email or call Mandi Kime, 206.786.6517.