From the June 1st edition of OSHA QuickTakes:
OSHA announces final rule to reduce employer burdens by removing outdated requirements, streamlining and simplifying standards
OSHA announced May 26 the forthcoming release of a final rule that streamlines and simplifies standards while reducing employer burdens. The rule is the third in OSHA’s Standards Improvement Projects initiative, which helps keep the agency’s standards up to date and better enables employers to comply with their regulatory obligations. The rule will update OSHA’s standards and identify requirements for revision based on an agency review, comments from the public and recommendations from an Office of Management and Budget report. OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels said, “OSHA estimates that the final rule, without reducing employee protection, will result in annual cost savings to employers exceeding $43 million and significant reductions in paperwork burden hours.”
The rule builds on the success of SIP-Phase I published in 1998 and SIP-Phase II published in 2005. Regulatory text on the SIP-Phase III final rule will be published in the Federal Register. See the news release for more information.