Industry stakeholders, contractors, and industry associations recently provided testimony at an OSHA public hearing regarding reinforcing steel and post-tensioning standards. As reported by The Ironworker, the rationale for pursuing new standards is:

• The current OSHA standard written in 1971 is antiquated and only contains three references specifically pertaining to reinforcing steel and two for post tensioning.

• Common hazards during reinforcing steel installation and post-tensioning operations are not addressed in current standards.

• Fatality and accident trends indicate a direct correlation between accident causation factors and lack of specific regulations.

• The usage of steel reinforced and post-tensioned poured-in-place concrete is expected to double.

• The negotiated rulemaking process will produce the best safety standard and regulations through the cooperative efforts of OSHA, stakeholders and experts in the reinforcing steel and post-tensioning industry.

Protecting members during reinforcing steel activities is part of the “2017 Zero Incident” campaign. The goal of the campaign is to pursue safety standards that will prevent workplace incidents. Key safety provisions of the proposed OSHA standards pertain to reinforcing steel and post-tensioning standards and prevention of structural collapse during the hoisting process of walls and columns. The proposed text of the standard is available here.