Well, that didn’t take long. On the heels of the election, , the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it was issuing a Request for Information to initiate the fourth phase of its Standards Improvement Project. This project, called SIP-IV, seeks comments from the construction industry to improve and streamline existing OSHA construction standards by removing or revising requirements that are confusing, outdated, or inconsistent with other standards.

The last round of OSHA SIP changes resulted in changes to respiratory protection standards and the number of requirements for employers to transit exposure and medical records to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Although we are early in the process, some industry groups are recommending that OSHA consider revising the standards related to fall protection certification generally and as it related to chimney construction, fit testing personal protective equipment, with an emphasis on fit testing for female workers, and updating the decompression tables for underground construction.

The public is invited to submit comments and recommendations for revising the existing construction standards and the rationale for these recommendations.  If you are interested in submitting a comment, you can submit them electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov.