Rulemaking to revise Minnesota’s lead regulations underway

Saint Paul, MN — Minnesota OSHA will establish a working group to assist the state’s Department of Labor and Industry in revising regulations on lead exposure for both general industry and construction.

The state Legislature this year passed a bill (Minnesota Laws Chapter 127, Article 9, Section 6) that directs MNOSHA – which operates under OSHA’s State Plan program – to initiate rulemaking “to reduce the blood lead level at which an employee is removed from exposure to lead and to reduce the blood lead level at which an employee may be returned to work with exposure to lead.”

The BLL for medical removal is 60 micrograms per deciliter or more for general industry (1910.1025) and 50 micrograms per deciliter or more in construction (1926.62). For both industries, the return-to-work BLL is less than 40 micrograms per deciliter on two consecutive tests.

The working group’s first meeting is planned for December, an MNOSHA spokesperson told Safety+Health, with additional meetings to follow as needed. The group will likely be made up of members from labor, management, academia, occupational medicine and the Minnesota Department of Health. Anyone interested in participating in the group can email MNOSHA at [email protected].

DLI will propose the new levels in a draft rule to be published next year, the spokesperson said, adding that the process will include a 30-day public comment period.