It’s OK for employers to store injured employees’ X-rays in digital format.
And feral cats are no longer “vermin” at the nation’s shipyards.
These are just two of the 18 changes that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is making to its standards covering recordkeeping, general industry, maritime, and construction.
OSHA announced the changes last Tuesday, October 4, saying that the changes will save an estimated $3.2 million in compliance costs.
As for those feral cats. Existing requirements in the sanitation standard for Shipyard Employment specify that employers must maintain workplaces in a manner that prevents vermin infestation. OSHA recognizes that feral cats pose a minor, if any, threat, and tend to avoid human contact. Consequently, OSHA proposes to remove the term “feral cats” from the definition of vermin in the standard.
The proposed revision permits storage of x-rays in digital formats. OSHA adopted the existing requirement for storage of x-ray film before the existence of digital x-ray and storage technology.
The press release announcing these proposed revisions is here.
If you’d like to see the other 16 proposed changes in this regulatory hodgepodge, click here.
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