A $299 million FY97 budget appropriation for OSHA was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee in September. The amount is a 2 percent cut from the 1996 OSHA budget, but allots the agency $1.5 million more than the House version. Sources expect that when the bill reaches the Senate floor -pending at press time- Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) will try to attach a rider prohibiting OSHA from issuing an ergonomic rule during the year.
Three labor unions, the Exide Corporation, and OSHA signed an agreement last month aimed at protecting 3,000 battery workers from overexposure to airborne lead, arsenic and cadmium. According to the agreement, Exide Corp. will hire, with OSHA and union approval, a consultant to evaluate conditions in its battery operations and recommend engineering and work practice controls to bring airborne lead, arsenic and cadmium exposures down to the "lowest feasible limit." The LFL may exceed OSHA permissible exposure limits, although under those conditions Exide will be required to maintain extra protective measures, such as providing respirators. The agreement allows the consultant up to 18 months to develop recommendations for submittal to Exide, OSHA and the unions. Following approval, Exide will have 18 more months to implement the recommendation at all facilities in states with federal OSHA enforcement.
There is no need for an international standard for occupational safety and health management systems. That was the consensus at a meeting of nearly 400 officials from 45 countries sponsored by the International Organization for Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland, last month. Overwhelmingly, other countries agreed with the U.S. delegation that developing an ISO health and safety standard now would not be prudent. Reasons for opposing an ISO health and safety standard include: a standard should be developed first at the national or regional level due to socio-economic and cultural differences; such a standard would not facilitate international trade; businesses have had insufficient experience with ISO 9000 and ISO 14000; costs and benefits are as yet unclear; and, such a standard might conflict with national laws.
A minority of nations, including, according to sources, Australia and Norway, favor a standard. There was a consensus if such a standard is developed it should be used for guidance, not certification. The ISO Technical Management Board will consider the report in January 1997.
New changes to OSHA’s asbestos standard, first issued two years ago and amended last year, was promulgated without a public comment period Sept. 23, 1996. According to the agency, the corrections are not intended to affect worker protection in a significant way. New provisions include:
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