Effective Sept. 30, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin enforcement of the ancillary requirements of its standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds in the construction and shipyard sectors.

According to an OSHA memorandum, the agency will assist employers that are making good faith efforts to meet the ancillary requirements of the revised final Beryllium construction and shipyard standards during the first 45 days of enforcement. Additionally, proposed citations related to inspections conducted within the 45-day timeframe will require National Office review prior to issuance. However, this good faith policy does not apply to compliance with the eight-hour permissible exposure limit and short-term (15-minute) exposure limit in the 2017 final rule issued at the end of the Obama administration.

More information on the beryllium standards for the construction and shipyard sectors can be found on the OSHA website.

As part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, ABC has been heavily involved in OSHA’s rulemaking efforts over the last several years in an attempt to limit the application of the original rule within the construction industry. In addition to submitting comment letters throughout various rulemakings, ABC, along with the National Association of Home Builders and the Mason Contractors Association of America, filed a settlement with OSHA on Aug. 25 to effectively narrow the scope of the 2017 beryllium final rule.

Read more about ABC’s actions in the beryllium regulatory process in Newsline.