b'SafetyUpdateff;;;. ~ " - - - - - - - ~ OSHA Proposed Ergonomics Standard OSHA has begun plans that willNIOSH Releases Noiseble Exposure Limit (P ) is 90 ELmostlikely resultin anOSHACriteria DocumentdBA. ergonomics standard by the yearThe National Institute for O u Current requirementsuse cc also SHARP2000."We mustpushforwardpationalSafetyandHealtha5dBexchangerate.r An with apro (NIOSH) recently released au exchange rate describes theelasensible ergonomicsdocgram standard," said Administra ment entitled"Criteria for ationship b sound level aRec etweennd tor CharlesJeffress."Wehaveommended Standard. Occupa time~ a 5rate says that the dB ample sound scientific evidencetional Noise Exposure."riteriariskofnoise-induced hearing A cthat too many workers a suffer document is the method used bydamage doubles with each 5 redB ing serous injuries and illnessesNIOSH,government\'s safetyincrease. the duetowork-relatedmuscu and health research arm, to tellThe NIOSH report recommends loskeletal disorders (ergonomic OSHA, thea that aangle Recommended Exposure regulatoryrm,sirelated illnesses)."new Hearing ConservationLimit (REL) of 85 dBA, a a 3 stan nddB The positive newsTo begin w h, the stan rd w ldard isorder.exchangerate.NIOSHrecomit da il in forroofmgfocus on general industry whereAccording to NIOSH officials,mends this based on research that the known ergonomic hazards arethere is adeal of evidenceshows an 8-percent excessof greatrisk contractors is thathigh: manufacturingmanualthatthe current regulationhashearing loss at the 85 dBA TWA, and material handling operations. Thebeenineffective inpreventingversus the current 25-percent risk OSHA is currentlypositive news for roofing contrac worker hearing loss and damage.of excess hearing loss al 90 dBA reporting that thetorsis thatOSHAis currentlyCurrently,OSHAhasnotTWA. reporting that the final standardaddressed the NIOSH report, butShouldOSHAincorporate final standardwillwill not automatically cover mar the reportstillhassignificantthese new findings in thetoOccunot automaticallyagr IOS Noisedaitime,icultural, or constructionimplications.N H\'s findingspationalExposure stan rd, industries.Obviously,this wil Iandreportcouldbecomethemany roo contractorsbe fingwill cover maritime,prevent roofing contractors fromdefault "best practice" in future lit affected. Historically, many pieces agricultural,having to comply with the stan igations and workers\' compensa of motorizedrooftop andsheet dard, initially.tion cases. In addition, organizedmetal equipment is found to be or constructionHowever,gen industrylabor may use this document tojust under the current allowable eral employers who are not involved indemand more protectionngdBA rate. If OSHA lowers this, duri rateindustries.manufacturing or material han n . Thereis alsotheroofing contractors may be forced egotiationsdling (including maritime, agri distinct possibility that this repo to purchase more personal prort cultural, and construction) mustwilligger OSHA to issue atectiveequipment,puttheir tr new establish an ergonomics programHearingn Standard.employ through more, Co servationeestrainingif ae onomicTheNIOSHreportcallsforor purchase different equipment. work-relatedrg injury or illness is reported.many changes, the most signifi The currentHA(29 OS standard The program must include sixcant of these being antCFR 1 .95) can be viewed at significa 910basiselements:managementredu inallowable decibelOSHA\'s ctionthewebsite, www.osha.gov. leadership andpartici levels, as wel I as thelevelthatAof NIOSH\'s report isemployeecopyavailpation; hazard identification andtriggers inclusion intoHearingablefreeofchargebycalling the information; job hazard analysisConservationProgram {HCP).800/35-NIOSH, or faxat513/ andcontrol;training;medicalSimply put, OSHA\'st regu 533-8573,ore-mailatpubcurrenmanagement; and program evalu lations require HCP inclusion atstaft@cdc.gov. atio T draft of thstandard is85decibelsonanA-weighted n.heis available on OSHA\'s website atscale,usingan8-hourtime www.osha.gov.weighed average (85 dBA, 8-hr. TWA). The 8-hour TWA Permissi-'