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OSHA’s Final Rule for Shipyard Worker Protection

OSHA’s Final Rule for Shipyard Worker Protection
OSHA announced earlier yesterday that they have released the final rule for the protection of the safety and health of shipyard workers. The rule was published in today’s edition of Federal Register. The rule updates all the existing requirements and reflects the major advancements in the industry practices and technology. The rule also provides better protection from hazards that were not addressed previously, like control of hazardous energy. This new rule is expected to prevent nearly 350 serious injuries this year.

OSHA collaborated with the maritime industry to make this final rule. Shipyard work is extremely dangerous and it is of immense importance to craft a rule that protects the health and safety of the workers while at the same time takes the employers concerns about implementation into consideration.

This final addresses 14 workplace safety and health categories, and it also updates and clarifies all those shipyard employment standard provisions that have gone unchanged since 1872. These updates include: establishing the minimum lighting for work sites, adding uniform criteria to ensure that first aid providers are appropriately trained, accounting for employees at the end of work shifts, etc. The rule has also updated the sanitary requirements.

Furthermore, OSHA has also added new provisions for the control of hazardous energy and for motor vehicle safety. Up until this final rule was released, the maritime industry did not have any specific standard to follow for the control of hazardous energy. This new rule seeks to reduce incidents.

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