OSHRC extends comment period on possible changes to procedural rules

Washington — The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has extended to Nov. 16 the comment period on potential revisions to its procedural rules, in part to reflect technological advances.

According to a notice published in the Sept. 26 Federal Register, the new deadline comes in response to stakeholder requests for additional time to coordinate responses. The original deadline was Oct. 9.

Although recommended changes to any rule will be considered, the agency is especially interested in feedback about:

• Simplifying rules regarding computation of time.
• Making electronic filing and service mandatory.
• Broadening the definition of “affected employee.”
• Allowing citing to OSHRC decisions as posted on the agency website.
• Eliminating the rule on the staying of a final order.
• Narrowing or eliminating the requirement for agency approval of settlements.
• Revising the grounds for obtaining OSHRC review of interlocutory orders issued by the agency’s administrative law judges.
• Broadening protection of sensitive personal information.
• Increasing the threshold amount for cases referred for mandatory settlement proceedings.

OSHRC requests that comments pertaining to possible rule changes include a short discussion of reasons for the proposed revision and ways it would represent improvement.

OSHRC is an independent federal agency created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act to rule on disputes of citations or penalties resulting from OSHA inspections. The most recent revisions to its Rules of Procedure came in 2005.