The
U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) on November 14 announced a final
rule on employer-paid personal protective equipment
(PPE). Under the rule, all PPE, with a few exceptions,
will be provided at no cost to the employee. OSHA anticipates
that this rule will have substantial safety benefits
that will result in more than 21,000 fewer occupational
injuries per year. The rule was published in the Federal
Register on November 15.
 "Employees
exposed to safety and health hazards may need to wear
personal protective equipment to be protected from injury,
illness and death caused by exposure to those hazards,"
said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G.
Foulke Jr. "This final rule will clarify who is
responsible for paying for PPE, which OSHA anticipates
will lead to greater compliance and potential avoidance
of thousands of workplace injuries each year."
The final rule contains a few exceptions
for ordinary safety-toed footwear, ordinary prescription
safety eyewear, logging boots, and ordinary clothing
and weather-related gear. The final rule also clarifies
OSHA's requirements regarding payment for employee-owned
PPE and replacement PPE. While these clarifications
have added several paragraphs to the regulatory text,
the final rule provides employees no less protection
than they would have received under the 1999 proposed
standard.
The rule also provides an enforcement
deadline of six months from the date of publication
to allow employers time to change their existing PPE
payment policies to accommodate the final rule.
Access the final rule by clicking on
the link below:
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=20094
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