OSHA to host meetings on walking surface rule, GHS

OSHA is scheduled to host at least one day's worth of hearings in January on the agency's proposed rule on walking-working surfaces and personal protective equipment (fall protection systems).

The informal public meeting is scheduled for Jan. 18 in Washington and will continue on subsequent days if necessary. The proposed rule, published in May, would revise the current walking-working surfaces and personal protective equipment standards to reflect new technology, increase consistency between various industries and present the requirements in "plain language."

In other news, OSHA will be hosting an informal public meeting to discuss the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. The Nov. 30 meeting, scheduled to take place in Washington, will give interested stakeholders the opportunity to express their views on GHS for the U.S. government to consider as it develops its position for an upcoming United Nations GHS meeting.

GHS is a single system for the classification of chemicals according to their health, physical and environmental effects, coupled with harmonized communication of such effects through labeling and Safety Data Sheets.