Under the recently published Personal Protective Equipment Rule, OSHA will require employers to provide personal protective equipment to every covered employee and provides that the employer can be cited for noncompliance on a per-employee basis. The rule amends OSHA regulatory language so as to make it unmistakably clear that each covered employee is required to receive personal protective equipment training and that each instance of noncompliance may be considered a separate violation and subject to separate penalty. OSHA stresses that the new rule makes no substantive change to the employer requirements and adds no new compliance burden to employers. The new rule took effect January 12, 2009.
Steven K. Metcalf
