{"id":9951,"date":"2024-08-06T08:36:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=9951"},"modified":"2024-08-05T15:18:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T19:18:36","slug":"does-one-size-fit-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2024\/08\/06\/does-one-size-fit-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Does One-Size-Fit-All?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"firstcharacter\">A<\/span>t last month\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/edworkforce.house.gov\/calendar\/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=411798\">House hearing on OSHA standards<\/a> we constantly heard the tired refrain that OSHA standards are a \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d solution that ignores the variations between different types of workplaces, different parts of the country, different size employers and provide a strait jacket for employers with no flexibility.<\/p>\n<p>Witness Felicia Watson, a Senior Counsel at the Littler Mendelson law firm, complained in her <a href=\"https:\/\/republicans-edlabor.house.gov\/UploadedFiles\/Watson_Testimony.pdf\">testimony<\/a> about OSHA\u2019s proposed heat standard that \u201cOSHA apparently ignored repeated concerns expressed through written comments and during stakeholder meetings cautioning the Agency against adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to the rulemaking. One size does not fit all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And later testified that \u201cUltimately OSHA has developed a prescriptive rule that takes a one-size-fits all approach, and despite its assurances to the contrary, allows little flexibility for employers moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Politicians from NY representative (and House Republican Conference Chair) <a href=\"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2022\/09\/08\/elise-stefanik-and-republican-war-on-workers\/#:~:text=size%20fits%20all.%E2%80%9D-,One%20Size%20Fits%20All,-%3A%C2%A0%20Look%20at%20every\">Elise Stefanik<\/a> to North Carolina Labor Commissioner candidate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinajournal.com\/opinion\/biden-wants-federal-heat-stress-regulations-lets-make-sure-cooler-heads-prevail\/#:~:text=a%20one%2Dsize%2Dfits%2Dall%20approach\">Luke Farley<\/a> complain about OSHA\u2019s \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d standards.<\/p>\n<p>We have heard this sad old complaint about every OSHA standard since the agency was created in 1971. But it is just wrong.\u00a0 It is an old business talking point, but it has been an effective one, which is why they are still using it.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what is so wrong with that argument.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>OSHA standards are bare minimums<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>First, OSHA standards are bare minimums.\u00a0 OSHA has rarely issued standards that were sufficiently protective.\u00a0 In most cases, labor unions have sued the agency to force them to issue a more protective standard (as happened for example with asbestos and silica).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">We have heard this tired old complaint about every OSHA standard since the agency was created in 1971. But it is just wrong.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>OSHA standards are never as detailed and specific and proscriptive as voluntary standards (e.g. ANSI standards).\u00a0 By the time they get issued, many if not most employers are already complying with them or going above and beyond (and the best employers are often doing much more as they recognize the inadequacy of the rules).<\/p>\n<p>While standards are supposed to protect all workers from \u201cmaterial health impairment\u201d even if exposed over a working lifetime, they generally fall far short as a result of decades of court decisions.\u00a0 The Supreme Court\u2019s 1980 <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/448\/607\/#:~:text=On%20the%20other%20hand%2C%20if%20the%20odds%20are%20one%20in%20a%20thousand%20that%20regular%20inhalation%20of%20gasoline%20vapors%20that%20are%202%25%20benzene%20will%20be%20fatal%2C%20a%20reasonable%20person%20might%20well%20consider%20the%20risk%20significant%20and%20take%20appropriate%20steps%20to%20decrease%20or%20eliminate%20it\">Benzene Decision<\/a> set a standard of 1 injury\/illness per 1,000, which is much lower standard of protection than the levels of protection afforded from environmental hazards.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>OSHA standards are programmatic<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Second, most OSHA standards are programmatic.\u00a0 They require achieving an exposure level or other protective measures, but do not specify only one way to get there. OSHA generally requires each employer to develop a prevention program appropriate to their individual business, as long as they all include the basic elements. \u00a0\u00a0Employers have flexibility about how to reach that level of exposure, by substitution (with safer chemicals or methods), engineering controls (ventilation), administrative controls (job rotation) or, in some cases, personal protective equipment (PPE).<\/p>\n<p>For example, to comply with the proposed heat stress rule, employers could start work earlier in the day when it is cooler and probably below the trigger level. Employers in cooler parts of the country will reach OSHA\u2019s trigger temperature fare less frequently than an employer in hotter areas. A heat prevention program for a farm will look different than a program for a warehouse \u2014 but all will require the basic elements \u2014 water, rest and, where appropriate, shade or air conditioning \u2013 if the trigger threshold is met.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>OSHA enforcement offers flexibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Third, OSHA enforcement offers flexibility.\u00a0 If OSHA does inspect a workplace (and this is a rare occurrence given how few inspectors OSHA has) and finds violations, there often is a settlement agreement where the employer offers to make improvements to meet the standard or some equivalent level of protection.\u00a0 Employers are often given a significant amount of time to come into compliance and can even challenge the \u201cabatement period\u201d to get an extension.\u00a0 Citations are often reclassified or the fine reduced to make the penalty less onerous.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Small businesses often get a break<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Fourth, small businesses often get a break.\u00a0 OSHA is required to consider the size of a business when considering the penalty.\u00a0 OSHA is restricted by Congress in how and when they can inspect small businesses. Many are exempt from inspections, like small family farms Furthermore, OSHA\u2019s Onsite Consultation Program provides small businesses with the opportunity to have an \u201cinspection\u201d from state consultants without risk of a citation. So in reality, they have a lot of flexibility.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>One-size-fits-all is a fantasy that business has pulled out time and again to paint OSHA standards as rigid and inflexible<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><strong>The human body responds the same way regardless of where the work is done<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Fifth, while there is some regional variation in hazards, the human body responds the same way regardless of where the work is done.\u00a0 The heat standard, for example, is measured accounting for both temperature and humidity, so even though the southwest is hotter and less humid, the trigger does account for regional differences.\u00a0 Measuring heat impact by using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osha.gov\/heat-exposure\/hazards#:~:text=Environmental%20Heat-,Environmental%20heat,-is%20more%20than\">Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT)<\/a> instead would take regional variation into account even more as it also measures radiant heat (direct sunlight) and wind velocity.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Most employers like standards<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Lastly, while employers often complain about specifications in standards (telling them exactly how to comply, e.g. the height of a guardrail), most employers like to have such standards because they know exactly what they need to do to avoid a citation and protect their employees.\u00a0 OSHA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osha.gov\/silica-crystalline\">Silica standard<\/a> recognized this and included an innovative table specifying exactly what controls to use for operations which had known high exposures, but it also gave them flexibility by eliminating monitoring requirements for those operations using those controls.<\/p>\n<p>One-size-fits-all is a fantasy that business has pulled out time and again to paint OSHA standards as rigid and inflexible.\u00a0 It\u2019s just not true and the sooner we put this one to rest the better for the lives of working people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At last month\u2019s House hearing on OSHA standards we constantly heard the tired refrain that OSHA standards are a \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d solution that ignores the variations between different types of workplaces, different parts of the country, different size employers and provide a strait jacket for employers with no flexibility. Witness Felicia Watson, a Senior Counsel at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulations","category-regulatory-process"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Does One-Size-Fit-All? - Confined Space<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Employers always criticize OSHA for issuing &quot;one-size-fits-all&quot; standards. 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