Michigan office recommends eliminating, changing hundreds of MIOSHA rules

Lansing, MI – Michigan’s state-run occupational safety and health program should revise or eliminate rules that exceed federal OSHA requirements, the Michigan Office of Regulatory Reinvention suggested in a report (.pdf file) released March 12.

ORR made 624 recommendations for changes to 334 MIOSHA rules that currently exceed federal standards, some of which call for complete recession of parts of rules or entire rules.

The eliminations come from duplicative rules or rules that are “unnecessarily burdensome,” according to Steven Hilfinger, chief regulatory officer and director of the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Eliminating the rules that go beyond federal standards would result in “less complex and more efficient regulations,” he said in a press release. State-run OSH programs are required to meet federal standards, but are allowed to exceed them.

ORR also called for eliminating three commissions that propose rules, claiming that commission members may not be experts in the field and are subject to political influence. In their place, ORR suggested advisory committees composed of employees and citizens that would be impacted by the proposed standards.