Source: Jesse Lawder or Adriano Llosa, USDOL, 10/24/13 OSHA releases new resources to better protect workers from hazardous chemicals
WASHINGTON — Each year in the United States, tens
of thousands of workers are made sick or die from occupational
exposures to the thousands of hazardous chemicals that are used in
workplaces every day. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational
Safety and Health Administration today launched two new web resources
to assist companies with keeping their workers safe.
While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA's exposure
standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small
number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace. The first
resource OSHA has created is a toolkit to identify safer chemicals that
can be used in place of more hazardous ones. This toolkit walks
employers and workers step-by-step through information, methods, tools
and guidance to either eliminate hazardous chemicals or make informed
substitution decisions in the workplace by finding a safer chemical,
material, product or process. The toolkit is available at http://www.osha.gov/dsg/safer_chemicals/index.html.
"We know that the most efficient and effective way to protect
workers from hazardous chemicals is by eliminating or replacing those
chemicals with safer alternatives whenever possible," said Dr. David
Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and
health.
OSHA also created another new web resource: the Annotated
Permissible Exposure Limits, or annotated PEL tables, which will enable
employers to voluntarily adopt newer, more protective workplace
exposure limits. OSHA's PELs set mandatory limits on the amount or
concentration of a substance in the air to protect workers against the
health effects of certain hazardous chemicals; and OSHA will continue
to enforce those mandatory PELs. Since OSHA's adoption of the majority
of its PELs more than 40 years ago, new scientific data, industrial
experience and developments in technology clearly indicate that in many
instances these mandatory limits are not sufficiently protective of
workers' health.
"There is no question that many of OSHA's chemical standards are not
adequately protective," Michaels said. "I advise employers, who want
to ensure that their workplaces are safe, to utilize the occupational
exposure limits on these annotated tables, since simply complying with
OSHA's antiquated PELs will not guarantee that workers will be safe."
The annotated PEL tables provide a side-by-side comparison of OSHA
PELs for general industry to the California Division of Occupational
Safety and Health PELs, National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health recommended exposure limits, and American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienist threshold limit values. They offer an
easily accessible reference source for up-to-date workplace exposure
limits, which are available at http://www.osha.gov/dsg/annotated-pels/index.html.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are
responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their
employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's
working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing
training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov. |