July 18, 2001—OSHA has announced that its final steel erection standard will go into effect January 18, 2002. The original effective date was July 18, 2001.
The new effective date gives additional time to the industry to become familiar with the new requirements and to provide training to employees in the construction industry. OSHA is also preparing outreach and training material to assist industry in the training process.
The additional six months will also allow employers time to make the necessary changes to avoid costly re-fabrication of already made components and avoid serious delays to projects that would affect all trades involved in the construction process. Components are typically fabricated 2 or 3 months prior to being erected.
OSHA will not apply the component requirements of the new standard to the following two situations: (1) to components used in steel erection projects where the building permit was obtained before the final rule was published (January 18, 2001); and (2) to components used in steel erection projects in which the steel erection work has begun before September 16, 2001.
Based on a report from Safety Currents
