The Finish Line? OSHA’s Confined Space Rule For Construction

22 years ago, OSHA made a promise. 

OSHA issued a final rule in 1993 on confined space for general industry workers. However, this rule did not extend to the construction industry. Now, at last, it looks like the Confined Spaces in Construction rule may be issued this year.

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) finished a review of the proposed regulation on April 3. According to Industrial Safety & Hygiene News on April 14, OSHA “would be expected to press for publication sometime in ’15, because standards-setting usually grinds to a halt in election years.”

The National Safety Council mentioned in their April 6 article that “an OIRA review is one of the last steps a federal agency must take before it can publish a final rule.”

According the the Federal Regulations Advisor, a scheduled date of publication has not yet appeared in the Federal Register.