[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39253-39255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-18921]
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[[Page 39254]]
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
29 CFR Part 1926
[Docket No. S-206B]
Safety Standards for Fall Protection in the Construction Industry
AGENCY: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendment.
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SUMMARY: Negotiated rulemaking is currently underway to develop a
proposed revision of OSHA's standards for steel erection in subpart R
of part 1926. That proposal is expected to include fall protection
requirements for employees performing steel erection work. OSHA has
concluded that the Agency's recently revised general requirements for
fall protection (subpart M of part 1926) should be amended at this time
to clarify that they do not apply to any steel erection activities.
Therefore, OSHA is withdrawing amendments to subpart E which have not
yet become effective and is amending certain provisions of subpart M of
part 1926 in order to maintain the fall protection requirements for
steel erection that were in effect before the issuance of revised
subpart M.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This document is effective on August 2, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Liblong, Director of
Information and Consumer Affairs, Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-3647, 200 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Telephone (202) 219-8151.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On August 9, 1994, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule on Fall Protection in the
Construction Industry, 29 CFR part 1926, subpart M (59 FR 40672), which
became effective, except as described below, on February 6, 1995. With
respect to steel erection activities, the new subpart M established the
duty to provide fall protection for employees engaged in steel erection
in structures other than buildings (revised Secs. 1926.500(a)(2)(iii)),
and 1926.501(b)) and established the fall protection systems criteria
and training requirements for employees engaged in all steel erection
work (revised Secs. 1926.500(a)(2)(iii), (a)(3), (a)(4), 1926.502, and
1926.503).
On October 7, 1994, five steel erection companies petitioned OSHA
for an administrative stay of final subpart M to the extent the
standard applies to steel erection activities. They argued that OSHA
had not given fair notice that subpart M would apply to the steel
erection industry at all, and that, in consequence, they did not have
the opportunity to comment on this issue.
After reviewing the rulemaking record in light of petitioner's fair
notice claims, OSHA agreed that the petitioners and other interested
persons did not receive adequate notice of OSHA's intention that some
steel erection activities would be covered by revised subpart M.
Because of the notice deficiency, OSHA recognized that the rulemaking
record was incomplete with respect to steel erection and that revised
subpart M was not a final rule to the extent it applied to steel
erection.
Accordingly, OSHA granted the request for an administrative stay
and delayed the effective date of revisions to subpart M and subpart E,
to the extent they applied to steel erection, until August 6, 1995 (60
FR 5131, January 26, 1995). OSHA explained in the January 1995 notice
that it intended to reopen the subpart M record for supplemental
comments concerning subpart M coverage of certain steel erection work.
See 60 FR 5131.
For construction activity other than steel erection, revised
subpart M and supporting amendments to subparts E, H, N, P, Q, and V
became effective on February 6, 1995.
At the time OSHA granted the petitioners' request for an
administrative stay and delayed the effective date of revised subpart
M, a negotiated rulemaking committee was in the process of developing a
proposal to revise 29 CFR part 1926, subpart R. Subpart R currently
applies to steel erection of buildings. The Steel Erection Negotiated
Rulemaking Advisory Committee, SENRAC, was expected to issue a proposal
in June 1995 which would, among other things, expand subpart R's scope.
In order to avoid overlap or conflict between two rulemakings
concerning steel erection fall hazards, OSHA decided to wait to reopen
subpart M for additional comment concerning coverage of steel erection
until after SENRAC's June proposal made clear which steel erection
activities would remain unregulated by subpart R. Accordingly, OSHA
delayed the effective date of revisions to subpart E and subpart M
purporting to apply to steel erection for six months, or until August
6, 1995 (60 FR 5131, January 26, 1995).
To date, SENRAC has not decided which steel structures will be
subject to subpart R's fall protection requirements. Accordingly, OSHA
has granted SENRAC additional time to develop a proposal to revise
subpart R. In light of these developments, further extending the
administrative stay of subpart M would prolong indefinitely the time in
which the text of the standard does not reflect the standard's actual
scope. OSHA has decided therefore that subpart M should be amended at
this time to accurately reflect that it does not cover steel erection
and that subpart E should be amended so that the generic fall
protection provisions that have applied to steel erection continue in
effect.
OSHA intends, after the SENRAC proposal is issued and the scope of
the subpart R revision rulemaking is definite, to formally propose to
amend subpart M to include any steel erection activity omitted from the
subpart R revision process.
Until subparts M and R are finally revised, the Agency's
enforcement policy on fall protection during steel erection is the
policy outlined in Deputy Assistant Secretary Stanley's July 10, 1995
memorandum to the Office of Field Programs, ``Fall Protection in Steel
Erection.'' The memorandum provides that the term ``steel erection
activities'' means the movement and erection of skeleton steel members
(structural steel) in or on buildings or non-building structures. It
includes the initial connecting of steel, employees moving point-to-
point, installing metal floor or roof decking, welding, bolting and
similar activities.
The memorandum further provides that steel erection does not
include the erection of steel members such as lintels, stairs,
railings, curtainwalls, windows, architectural metalwork, column
covers, catwalks, and similar non-skeletal items or the placement of
reinforcing rods in concrete structures.
Accordingly, OSHA is amending subpart M and subpart E in order to
maintain, until such time as further rulemaking procedures may be
initiated and completed, the fall protection requirements for steel
erection that were in effect before the issuance of revised subpart M.
II. Summary and Explanation
A. Personal Protective Equipment--Subpart E
OSHA is amending subpart E to withdraw the actions whereby the
Agency removed Secs. 1926.104, Safety belts, lifelines and lanyards;
1926.105, safety nets; and 1926.107 (b), (c) and (f)
[[Page 39255]]
(definitions for the terms ``lanyard'', ``lifeline'' and ``safety
belt'', respectively), insofar as those provisions relate to steel
erection. Through this amendment, OSHA will maintain the existing fall
protection requirements for steel erection activities pending
rulemaking that addresses the steel erection industry.
B. Scope and Application--Subpart M
OSHA is amending Sec. 1926.500(a), Scope and application, of
subpart M to indicate clearly that the provisions of revised
Secs. 1926.501, Duty to have fall protection; 1926.502, Fall protection
systems criteria and practices; and 1926.503, Training requirements, do
not apply to steel erection activities. The revised provision clearly
indicates that subpart R and specified provisions of subpart E cover
steel erection.
Exemption From Delayed Effective Date Requirement
Under 5 U.S.C. 553, OSHA finds that there is good cause for making
this amendment effective upon publication in the Federal Register. This
amendment simply maintains the fall protection requirements which have
applied to the steel erection industry, notwithstanding the
promulgation of subpart M, Fall protection, so it does not increase the
existing regulatory burden.
Authority
This document was prepared under the direction of Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S.
Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
20210.
List of Subjects in 29 CFR Part 1926
Construction industry, Construction safety, Excavations, Fall
protection, Hoisting safety, Occupational safety and Health, Protective
equipment, Safety, Tools.
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 4, 6(b) and 8(g) of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657);
section 107 of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40
U.S.C. 333); section 4 of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.
553); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-90 (55 FR 35736); and 29 CFR
part 1911, the amendment to 29 CFR part 1926 made in the Federal
Register on August 9, 1994 (59 FR 40672) is further amended as set
forth below.
Signed at Washington, D.C. this 28th day of July 1995.
Joseph A. Dear,
Assistant Secretary of Labor.
PART 1926--[AMENDED]
Subpart E--[Amended]
1. The authority citation for subpart E of part 1926 continues to
read as follows:
Authority: Sec. 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards
Act (Construction Safety Act) (40 U.S.C. 333); Secs. 4, 6, 8,
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655,
657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754), 8-76 (41 FR
25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), or 1-90 (55 FR 9033), as applicable.
2. Amendatory items 4, 5, 6, and 7 to subpart E, published in the
Federal Register issue of August 9, 1994 (59 FR 40729) and stayed in
the issue of January 26, 1995 (60 FR 5131), are withdrawn.
Subpart M--Fall Protection
3. The authority citation for subpart M of part 1926 continues to
read as follows:
Authority: Sec. 107, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards
Act (Construction Safety Act) (40 U.S.C. 333); Secs. 4, 6, 8,
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 653, 655,
657); Secretary of Labor's Order No. 1-90 (55 FR 9033); and 29 CFR
Part 1911.
4. Paragraphs (a)(2)(iii), (a)(3)(iv) and (a)(4) of Sec. 1926.500
are revised to read as follows:
Sec. 1926.500 Scope, application, and definitions applicable to this
subpart.
(a) * * *
(2) * * *
(iii) Requirements relating to fall protection for employees
performing steel erection work are provided in Sec. 1926.105 and in
subpart R of this part.
* * * * *
(3) * * *
(iv) Section 1926.502 does not apply to steel erection activities.
(Note: Section 1926.104 sets the criteria for body belts, lanyards and
lifelines used for fall protection in steel erection activities.
Paragraphs (b), (c) and (f) of Sec. 1926.107 provide definitions for
the pertinent terms).
(4) Section 1926.503 sets forth requirements for training in the
installation and use of fall protection systems, except in relation to
steel erection activities.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 95-18921 Filed 8-1-95; 8:45 am]
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