OSHA Issues Enforcement Procedures Directive for Hexavalent Chromium Standards

February 14, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

Highlights of the Cr(VI) directive include:

• Procedures for reviewing an employer's air sampling records to determine exposure levels.
• Guidance on how employers can implement effective engineering and work practice controls to reduce and maintain exposure below approved permissible exposure limits.
• Requirements for employers to provide hygiene areas to minimize employees' exposure to Cr(VI).
• Guidelines requiring employers to maintain exposure and medical surveillance records.
• A requirement that certified safety and health officials (CSHOs) evaluate Portland cement wherever it is being used.

The standards lower the permissible exposure limit for hexavalent chromium to 5 micrograms of Cr(VI) per cubic meter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average, said OSHA.

The directive, OSHA Instruction CPL 02-02-074, Inspection Procedures for the Chromium (VI) Standards, was effective Jan. 24, 2008. The standards became effective on May 30, 2006.

Employers with 20 or more employees were given six months from the effective date to comply with most of the provisions, said OSHA.

Employers with less than 20 employees were allowed 12 months from the effective date to come into compliance with most of the provisions. All employers were given four years from the effective date to install feasible engineering controls, said OSHA.

The Cr(VI) standards are applicable to general industry, construction and shipyards (Sections 29 CFR 1910.1026, 29 CFR 1926.1126 and 29 CFR 1915.1026, respectively).

Hexavalent chromium compounds are used in the chemical industry in pigments, metal plating and chemical synthesis.

Health effects associated with exposure to Cr(VI) are lung cancer, nasal septum ulcerations and perforations, skin ulcerations and allergic and irritant contact dermatitis, said OSHA.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).