Lansing, MI — Michigan OSHA is delaying, until Sept. 21, enforcement of its revised concrete construction standard.
The agency amended Construction Standard 25, Concrete Construction on June 22 in an effort to strengthen worker protections and modernize requirements to reflect current industry practices.
MIOSHA, which operates as a State Plan program under federal OSHA, initiated a review of the standard after receiving requests to evaluate whether previous rules – which reference voluntary standards dating as far back as 1983 – adequately addressed hazards associated with modern industry activities. The review included comparisons with standards used in other states and input from subject matter experts.
The amendments include updates and clarifications in several areas of concrete construction:
- Reinforcing steel requirements, including clarifications related to support and stability
- Concrete mixing, pouring and floating operations, with additional emphasis on suspended loads and worker exposure
- Forms, shoring and reshoring, including inspection and documentation requirements before concrete placement
- Flying forms operations, with revised language addressing worker positioning and rigging procedures
- Site access and layout, adding requirements to better control hazards in active areas
- Tendon tensioning operations, clarifying equipment loading limits and manufacturer requirements
- New requirements for employers to ensure and document that employees are trained by a qualified person on task-specific concrete construction hazards
The agency hosted a public hearing in March to discuss the potential changes.
