22nd July 2020 by Joseph Coniglio
On July 14th, 2020, OSHA published a final rule revising the beryllium standard for general industry that maintains protection for employees while ensuring that the standard is well understood and compliance is simple and straightforward. This standard will affect approximately 50,500 workers employed in general industry.
The final rule amends the following paragraphs of the beryllium standard for general industry: "Definitions," "Methods of Compliance," "Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment," "Hygiene Areas and Practices," "Housekeeping," "Medical Surveillance," "Hazard Communication" and "Recordkeeping." It also has a new Appendix A: "Operations for Establishing Beryllium Work Areas."
About 62,000 workers are exposed to beryllium in their workplaces, including approximately 11,500 construction and shipyard workers who may conduct abrasive blasting operations using slags that contain trace amounts of beryllium. OSHA continues to work on revisions to the beryllium standards for construction and shipyards.
Source: