OSHA News

OSHA Publishes Proposal on Shipyard Employment

(Dec 25,2007)-- The Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will announce in the Federal Register (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTE R&p_id=20234) they are accepting public comments on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on General Working Conditions in Shipyard Employment. The proposed rule aims to help reduce hazards and provide greater protection for shipyard employees. The agency will be accepting public comments on the proposed rule until March 19, 2008.

"Working in shipyards is one of the most hazardous occupations in the nation," said Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "Shipyard employees perform industrial operations such as abrasive blasting and welding, operate heavy equipment and often work in confined spaces onboard vessels. This proposed rule would help reduce the hazards these employees face."

The proposal updates and clarifies provisions in the shipyard employment standards (29 CFR Part 1915 subpart F) that have largely gone unchanged since OSHA adopted them in 1972. OSHA proposes to revise and update existing provisions and to add new provisions, including the control of hazardous energy and motor vehicle safety.

Proposed updates include establishing minimum lighting for certain worksites, accounting for employees at the end of work-shifts if they work in confined spaces or alone in isolated spaces, and adding uniform criteria to ensure shipyards have an adequate number of appropriately trained first aid providers. The proposal also updates sanitation requirements.

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