Dive Brief:
- OSHA proposes a brand new rule to make clear its requirements for personal protective equipment in construction. The new law, published Thursday, specifically requires properly fitting PPE for workers.
- The agency stated that it had proposed the rule to improve the clarity. It currently stipulates that construction employers must provide and maintain PPE and ensure that employees’ equipment is suitable. Still, it doesn’t explicitly declare that safety gear should be fit for every employee. This rule will add this requirement to the current government that is more compatible with maritime and industrial norms.
- OSHA has stated that the law can better protect women who are frequently annoyed and poorly secured by bulky gear. The same thing that is so ubiquitous as a safety jacket can annoy in a safe environment such as the workplace by catching on doors and handles.
Dive Insight:
OSHA has stated that clarifying the rule will strengthen the existing regulations to make it easier to understand and ensure that all workers are in the correct position.
Amy Roosa, founder of The Safety Rack, a media outlet that evaluates women’s safety equipment working in the field, was awed by the rule change.
“My initial reaction is that this is very positive,” Roosa spoke of the rule proposed. “That’s the biggest struggle we’re seeing is [PPE] properly fitting women in the construction industry, and this rule proposal has the potential to change that for us.”
The rule can also be beneficial to men who don’t fit into the average weight and height criteria, said Michelle Gray, national environmental health and safety director for Redwood City, California-based DPR Construction
“I hope that the construction industry doesn’t focus on this being something just for the women in the industry,” Gray stated. “This update will help improve the safety and effectiveness of PPE for everyone-short/tall, large/small.”
She also pointed out that the top contractors and manufacturers are ahead of the rules and are not relying on the one-size-fits-all approach.
“They are doing better at acknowledging that PPE performs better when it’s properly fitted. We’re more likely to encourage people to use PPE and to wear it if it’s tailored to their size,” Gray said.
The North American Building Trades Union president Sean McGarvey applauded the rulemaking proposal.
“This minor regulation clarification means that construction workers will be afforded PPE that fits their various sizes and will improve safety for all workers in our industry,” McGarvey wrote via email. “This is a huge positive change for tradeswomen and other trade professionals workers who wear different sizes.”
Rulemaking process
The idea of revising this rule has been introduced previously.
The agency stated that its Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health suggested that OSHA introduce the new PPE rule as part of its Standards Improvement Project IV. The agency first proposed SIP-IV 2016 in June 2016; the comments received by the agency backed the PPE rule. However, specific associations opposed it regarding cost and concerns about enforcement.
This is why OSHA put the section of SIP-IV concerning the PPE rule modification on hold.
Since the rule will clarify the existing terms, OSHA thinks there are no cost-effective benefits related to the government. However, since OSHA estimates that 10% of employees currently wear unsafe PPE, the proposal stated that a once-off cost for a transitional expense across all workers could run more than $545,000.
Roosa said that the cost of PPE in various sizes is not significant in most equipment.
“The variation in price is not that great anymore,” she explained. “It’s not that much more or less to fit a woman in properly-fitted PPE.”