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On November 15, 2007, OSHA issued a final rule that potentially affects employers' costs. OSHA has now clarified its position and requires employers to pay for nearly all personal protective equipment required to protect their employees. The new rule is scheduled to go into effect February 13, 2008 and must be implemented by all employers by May 15, 2008.
Under this new OSHA rule, employers must pay for all personal protective equipment required under OSHA standards to protect their employees. Prior to issuance of this rule, there was much debate about whether employers were merely obligated to "provide" the personal protective equipment or whether employers were required to "provide it at the employer's expense." This Rule clarifies that the employer bears the burden of the expense of most types of personal protective equipment.
As with most OSHA rules, there are expections to this rule as well. The most common exceptions are that the employer is not obligated to provide work boots, including steel-toed boots, unless there is some special type of boot required by OSHA standards. However, to avoid the obligation to pay for the work boots, an employer must permit the employee to wear the boots during "non-work hours" as well. The rule also clarifies that an employer is not required to provide general clothing (i.e., long sleeve shirts, long pants, leather gloves) simply becasue there may be a general work safety rule requiring the use of such clothing.
As with many OSHA and governmental regulations, this rule change has important ramifications for employers and numerous intracacies that cannot be dealt with in this article. If you have specific questions about this new personal protective equipment rule change, you are encouraged to contact your corporate counsel.
In addition, there are several helpful resources available to help employers to decipher and implement this new rule change. I would recommend that employers visit and review the OSHA summary of this rule change. Fisher & Phillips, L.L.P. has also put together a good summary, overview, and explanation of this OSHA rule change. I would recommend review of the Fisher & Phillips website article on this issue as well. Quarles & Brady, L.L.P. has also authored and posted a nice summary of this OSHA rule change, which could help employers implement this change. Mark Landa at the West Des Moines firm of Sullivan & Ward, P.C. also provides a nice summary and a listing of the items not covered by the new OSHA rule and those items of personal protective equipment that OSHA clearly considers the employer's responsibility to provide and pay for.
Posted by William H. Grell on November 30, 2007 10:13 AM
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