On Friday, May 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited confined spaces in construction standard. The new rule will cover activities on construction sites with one or more confined spaces such as manholes, crawl spaces, tanks and other confined spaces that are not intended for continuous occupancy with exemptions for work covered by the excavation and underground construction standards. The final rule is very similar to the general industry standard, but with some differences tailored to the construction industry. These differences include: controlling contractor requirements, continuous monitoring for hazards, and responsibilities of a competent person.
During the rulemaking process, AGC members recommended that the agency align the final rule with that of the general industry, as opposed to the proposal, which included a very confusing confined spaces classification system as well as other requirements that presented compliance challenges. The standard will become effective on August 3, 2015.
For more information, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org or (703) 837-5410. Return to Top