CIRT has joined with the Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS) organizations to request a 60-day extension to the comment period on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed rulemaking on new “walkaround” privileges to union representatives.  The extension is being sought to provide the business community with sufficient time to analyze and respond to OSHA’s proposed changes to its “worker walkaround representative designation” process.  The proposed rulemaking allows – for the first time in the agency’s history – employees to designate nonemployees as their representative during facility walkarounds with OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officers. This is a significant change to the agency’s procedures for workplace safety inspections. A 60-day extension to the comment period would ensure the regulated community has the opportunity it needs to analyze the changes, assess its potential impacts, and draft comprehensive comments that will fully address the consequences of these changes on the economy, business operations, and workplace dynamics.

[NOTE: The CWS is comprised of associations and employers who believe in improving workplace safety through cooperation, assistance, transparency, clarity, and accountability. CWS believes that workplace safety is everyone’s concern. Improving safety can only happen when all parties – employers, employees, and OSHA – have a strong working relationship].
               
For more information see: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process” (88 FR 59825; RIN: 1218-AD45).