February 4, 2002—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened the tuberculosis (TB) rulemaking record for 60 days beginning January 24, 2002. This will give interested persons the opportunity to review and comment on the agency’s final risk assessment; the evaluation of two experts in the fields of TB epidemiology and risk assessment who reviewed the draft risk assessment; and the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report “Tuberculosis in the Workplace.” The report from the IOM—the health policy arm of the National Academy of Sciences—addresses questions related to the implementation of TB guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the potential effectiveness of an OSHA standard to protect healthcare workers.
OSHA first published a proposed standard on October 17, 1997, to control occupational exposure to tuberculosis. The agency preliminarily determined that the standard will help protect an estimated 5.3 million workers in more than 100,000 hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and other work settings with a significant risk of TB infection.
Persons wishing to comment should send two copies of comments, postmarked not later than March 25, 2002 to: Docket Office, Docket H-371, Room N-2625, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210. Comments of 10 pages or fewer may be faxed to 202/693-1648. (If faxed, the original and one copy of all comments must be sent to the Docket Office as soon as possible).
Comments may also be submitted electronically to OSHA. Information such as studies and journal articles cannot be attached to electronic submissions and must be submitted in duplicate to the above mailing address. Attachments must clearly identify the respondent’s electronic submission by name, date and subject.
The entire TB rulemaking record is available for review and copying at OSHA’s Docket Office; call 202/693-2350.
