After nearly nine years, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health
Administration has issued a final rule that says employers will have to pay the
full cost for almost all personal safety equipment used by their workers.
OSHA made the announcement last week that it had adopted the final form of
its original 1999 standard. This requires employers to pay for personal
protective equipment—clothing and gear—for workers, which advocates say will
prevent thousands workplace injuries.
Currently, workers are paying for their own safety equipment—boots and safety
goggles, for example—when it was not provided by the employer.
The
decision comes about 10 months after two labor groups—the AFL-CIO and United
Food and Commercial Workers International Union—filed a lawsuit in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit was in response to
OSHA’s failure to issue the standard, claiming that workers were being
endangered as a result.
The rule will go into effect May 2008.
OSHA said in a statement that the rule creates a clear and consistent policy
and reduces confusion about what employers are required to pay for. It added
that the rule will result in at least 21,000 fewer occupational injuries per
year. In 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported more than 4 million
worker injuries and more than 5,700 deaths in the private sector.
Advocates for the rule said they are pleased that rule was issued, but in a
joint statement the AFL-CIO and UFCW said they will be reviewing the rule to
determine if it provides workers with the level of protection that is needed and
required by law.
Filed by Jeff Casale of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce
Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.
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