The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is

holding the inaugural meeting of the Emergency Response and Preparedness Subcommittee of

the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health in Washington, DC on

September 9, 2015. The National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health

created this subcommittee to help respond to OSHA’s request revolving around advice and

recommendations for a proposed rule on emergency response and preparedness.

The members of this subcommittee will spend the next 12 to 18 months developing

recommendations and regulatory text for a proposed rule. These recommendations will then be

submitted to the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, which will

then submit the recommendations and proposals directly to the secretary of labor.

The outcome of the deliberations of this subcommittee can have major impacts on your

occupational safety and health policies and procedures. They will be discussing elements such as

employee participation, facility and equipment preparedness, vehicle preparedness and operation,

pre-incident planning, emergency incident standard operating procedures, post-incident analysis,

and program evaluation. So it is imperative to stay informed on how these meetings are

progressing, and what new rules come as a result of these meetings. So if your current

occupational safety and health policies and procedures are not up to date, it is time to get them

updated, to help ensure a simple transition when these new changes come.

If you have any questions about how this new rule might impact your business, or about

occupational safety and health in general, please contact us. If you have anything to add about

this newly created subcommittee, please leave a comment.