OSHA is seeking comments on phase three of its Standards Improvement Project (SIPs III), the third in a series of rulemaking actions intended to improve and streamline OSHA standards and lessen regulatory burdens without reducing employee protections.

The goal, according to the agency, is to improve its standards by revising confusing, outdated, duplicative or inconsistent requirements. OSHA hopes the revisions will help employers better understand their obligations, and will lead to increased compliance, ensure greater safety and health for employees, and reduce compliance costs and paperwork burdens.

In the ANPRM, changes being considered include revisions to eleven standards that OSHA has preliminarily identified to be addressed during the SIPs III rulemaking. OSHA also is asking for comments on updating medical testing and industrial hygiene sampling requirements in the various health standards. Finally, the agency is considering methods to make training requirements in both health and safety standards consistent.

Comments on the ANPRM must be submitted by Feb. 20, 2007, to: OSHA Docket Office, Docket No. S-778B, Room N2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20210. Comments may also be submitted via fax at (202) 693-1648 or electronically to http://ecomments.osha.gov.