§§1910.1000, 1915.1000, 1926.55 and newly added 1910.1024, 1915.1024, and 1926.1124 As of March 21, 2017, the effective date of the final rule amending 29 CFR parts 1910, 1915, and 1926 with respect to Beryllium that was published in the Federal Register of January 9, 2017 at 82 FR 2470, delayed at 82 FR 8901 on February 1, 2017, is further delayed to May 20, 2017.

§§1915.1000 and 1915.1024 In accordance with the Presidential directive as expressed in the memorandum of January 20, 2017, entitled "Regulatory Freeze Pending Review," the effective date of revised §1915.1000 and new §1915.1024, published in the Federal Register on January 9, 2017 (82 FR 2470), is delayed until March 21, 2017.

§§1915.1000 and 1915.1024 are amended effective March 10, 2017, to further protect workers from occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds. New permissible exposure limits of 0.2 micrograms of beryllium per cubic meter of air (0.2 μg/m³) as an 8-hour time-weighted average and 2.0 μg/m³ as a short-term exposure limit determined over a sampling period of 15 minutes are set. Other provisions such as requirements for exposure assessment, methods for controlling exposure, respiratory protection, personal protective clothing and equipment, housekeeping, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping are included.

§1910.178 has been updated effective January 17, 2017. OSHA significantly revised its general industry standards on walking-working surfaces to prevent and reduce workplace slips, trips, and falls, as well as other injuries and fatalities associated with walking-working surface hazards. The final rule includes revised and new provisions addressing fixed ladders, rope descent systems, fall protection systems and criteria (including personal fall protection systems), and training on fall hazards and fall protection systems. Requirements on the design, performance, and use of personal fall protection systems were also added.

§1915.1000 Table Z - Shipyards and Mineral Dusts register corrections to the entries for Silica, crystalline, respirable dust and SILICA: Crystalline due to typographical errors.

§§1904.0, 1904.4, 1904.29, 1904.32, 1904.33, 1904.34, 1904.35, and 1904.40 show changes effective January 19, 2017. OSHA amended its recordkeeping regulations to clarify that the duty to make and maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses is an ongoing obligation. These changes do not impose new compliance obligations and do not require employers to make records of any injuries or illnesses for which records are not currently required to be made.

§1915.8 reflects a technical amendment revising OSHA's regulations regarding OMB approval of collections of information regarding occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

§§1903.2, 1903.6, 1903.15, 1903.16, and 1903.18 have been updated to reflect new civil monetary penalties administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) plus the corresponding provisions to enforce the Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act). These changes were issued to comply with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990.

§1904.35(b)(2) was inadvertently designated as [Reserved] in the May 12^th Federal Register update. This change reinserts the paragraph.

§1915.1000 Table Z - Shipyards and Mineral Dusts register a correction to the entries for Silica, crystalline, respirable dust and SILICA: Crystalline.

§§1904.35 and 1904.36 have been modified to update requirements on how employers inform employees to report work-related injuries and illnesses to their employer. The rule requires employers to inform employees of their right to report work-related injuries and illnesses free from retaliation; clarifies the existing implicit requirement that an employer's procedure for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses must be reasonable and not deter or discourage employees from reporting; and incorporates the existing statutory prohibition on retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses. This rule also amends OSHA's existing recordkeeping regulation to clarify the rights of employees and their representatives to access the injury and illness records.

§§1915.1000 and 1915.1053 have been amended to reflect updates to OSHA's existing standards for occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica. OSHA has determined that employees exposed to respirable crystalline silica at the previous permissible exposure limits face a significant risk of material impairment to their health. The evidence in the record for this rulemaking indicates that workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica are at increased risk of developing silicosis and other nonmalignant respiratory diseases, lung cancer, and kidney disease. This final rule establishes a new permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air (50 μg/m³) as an 8-hour time-weighted average in all industries covered by the rule. It also includes other provisions to protect employees, such as requirements for exposure assessment, methods for controlling exposure, respiratory protection, medical surveillance, hazard communication, and recordkeeping.

§§1915.5, 1915.153, 1917.3, 1917.91, 1918.3, and 1918.101 have been revised to update the references in OSHA's eye and face standards to reflect the most recent edition of the ANSI/International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) eye and face protection standard. The oldest-referenced edition of the same ANSI standard has been removed.