OSHA Eases Burden on Press Users

New revisions to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Mechanical Power Presses Standard (29 CFR 1910.217) are set to go into effect February 18, 2014. The revisions eliminate a requirement for employers to document mandatory weekly inspections of presses, while clarifying the responsibility of employers to perform and document any maintenance or repairs necessary to protect the safety of workers who operate them. OSHA calculates that removing the weekly inspection and test certifications will eliminate 613,600 hr. of unnecessary paperwork burden on employers.

In addition, OSHA has aligned the existing standard’s maintenance and repair provisions to the American National Standards Institute standard for safety requirements for mechanical power presses. The standard states that maintenance and repair must be completed before the mechanical power press is operated and, in keeping with the ANSI standard, employers must certify maintenance and repair for the entire machine rather than for certain parts of the press.

See also: Ansell Healthcare

Technologies: Safety

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