The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed safety rules to update the design and construction requirements for OSHA’s powered industrial truck standards for general industry and construction.
The update aims to improve worker safety and health through ensuring the agency’s general and construction industry rules reflect current industry practices and state-of-the-art technology, as reported in a Feb. 15 U.S. Department of Labor news release.
“This proposal is part of a series of regulatory projects by OSHA to update nearly 200 consensus and industry standards to reflect the current versions of consensus and national industry standards,” the Department of Labor said.
The proposed rule would have OSHA update its general industry and construction standards for powered industrial trucks by adding references to the latest design and construction requirements. These standards come from the American National Standards Institute and the Industrial Truck Standards Development Foundation.
The rules would apply to fork trucks, tractors, platform lift trucks, motorized hand trucks and other specialized industrial trucks powered by an electric motor or an internal combustion engine.
Standards for powered industrial trucks went into effect for the first time in 1971. The standards have been updated several times since then.
The deadline to submit comments about the proposed rule is May 17.
