Few employees may ever take notice of a freshly cleaned, well-maintained floor. Unfortunately, too few also tend to notice uneven surfaces that cause trips or spilled materials that can make floors slippery. That’s one of the reasons why it’s up to employers to make sure that these types of hazards are eliminated.

OSHA's efforts to revise and update the existing general industry walking-working surfaces standards have been underway since 1973. The final rule incorporates advances in technology, industry best practices, and national consensus standards to provide effective and cost-efficient worker protection.

When OSHA revised the walking-working surface standard in 2016, part of the goal was to make the general industry standard more consistent with existing construction standards.

OSHA’s beryllium standard, published 11 days before President Trump’s inauguration, is one of the rules delayed 60 days by the Trump administration’s Jan. 20 regulatory freeze and review instructions. Federal agencies are to send no new rules to the Federal Register, withdraw rules sent but not yet published, and delay the effective date by 60 days of any rule published that has not taken effect.