SAFETY TIPS
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently closed-out an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking changes to their mechanical power press standards. The Advanced Notice solicited public and industry comments concerning an update to the current standards. OSHA previously conducted a review of the mechanical power press standards and determined that an update would address industry concerns that current standards are out of date and could be made safer.
The current OSHA power press standards, in existence since 1971, will most probably undergo a complete revamp. The existing standards are based primarily on the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B11.1. – 1971. However, the most recent ANSI edition was issued in 2001. Since it usually takes OSHA 12-24 months from issuance of Advanced Notice to actual enactment of standards changes, the proposed OSHA standards will change to coincide with ANSI – 2001 or later.
OSHA’s Advanced Notice pointed toward “broaden(ing) the scope of the standard to include other types of presses”. Hydraulic and pneumatic power presses are not covered by OSHA’s current standard. Another area of concern brought out by the publication of the Advanced Notice is the use of presence-sensing-device initiation (PSDI) systems.
While the current OSHA standards permit the use of PSDI systems, it also mandates an OSHA approved 3rd party to annually validate. Since no 3rd party validation has been sought, OSHA feels that the PSDI aspect of the current standard is more applicable to other types of presses. Thus the thought about broadening the scope of the standard to include hydraulic, pneumatic, and other types of presses.
Submitted by Don Roman, Regulatory Compliance Consultants, Inc.
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- October 2007 - APPENDIX A. Practice Recommendations for Health-Care Facilities Implementing the U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for Management of Occupational Exposures to Bloodborne Pathogens
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