Materion Strives to Meet OSHA Standards
Materion is committed to keeping customers, vendors, demand generators and other stakeholders informed of new information and issues involving beryllium-related health and safety. In keeping with this commitment, we would like to announce that on August 7, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for a Proposed Beryllium Standard.
As expected, the Proposed Beryllium Standard is consistent with the Model Beryllium Standard jointly submitted to OSHA by the United Steelworkers (USW) and Materion in February 2012. Materion supports having a Beryllium Standard and believes it extends key elements of our Beryllium Worker Protection Model to workers who have not benefited from our long-standing supplier-customer relationship that we have fostered. A copy of the Proposed Beryllium Standard is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-08-07/pdf/2015-17596.pdf.
The Proposed Beryllium Standard includes a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter (0.2 µg/m3) which is the occupational exposure limit that Materion has been recommending for more than a decade. In addition, the proposed Beryllium Standard contains the typical provisions and requirements of an OSHA standard and facilitates the use of the Beryllium Worker Protection Model for operations that generate airborne beryllium particulate.
In the coming months, OSHA will accept written public comments and may hold hearings to seek additional public comments. OSHA will then evaluate and respond to comments before issuing a final standard. This entire process usually takes 12 to 18 months from the time a proposed standard is issued until the time the final standard is published in the Federal Register. Where applicable to your business, compliance aspects of a final standard will become effective from 5 to 26 months after it is published.
Materion will provide support in the form of technical assistance and practical tools to help make compliance with the new Beryllium Standard simple and straightforward. Information on Materion’s Beryllium Worker Protection Model and specific processes can be found in the Interactive Guide to Working Safely with Beryllium and Beryllium-containing Materials at www.berylliumsafety.com. Additional information is available here, including SDSs, Safety Facts, FAQs and the Beryllium Consultant Network.
We will provide additional information to customers, vendors, demand generators and other stakeholders as appropriate to assure that they have the most up-to-date information on this important matter. We welcome and encourage you to contact us with your questions. Should you wish to reach us, please call our Information Hotline at 1-800-862-4118.