Companies in Puerto Rico have until May to Prepare for OSHA’s New Beryllium Rule

Earlier this month, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a proposed delay in the effective date of the rule entitled Occupational Exposure to Beryllium. The original effective date was to be March 21, 2017, but it has been postponed to May 20, 2017. The amended effective date gives companies and institutions that utilize beryllium and beryllium compounds two more months to prepare from the new regulations.
 
Beryllium is a lightweight and strong metal used in the aerospace, electronics, energy, telecommunications, medical and defense industries. Beryllium and beryllium compounds are important materials, but beryllium is also a highly toxic metal and workers who inhale it are at an increased risk of developing chronic beryllium disease (CBD) or lung cancer.
 
The new rule is meant to prevent CBD and lung cancer in American workers by limiting their exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds. Key provisions of the new rule:

• Reduce the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for beryllium to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over 8-hours.
• Establishes a new short term exposure limit for beryllium of 2.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air, over a 15-minute sampling period.
• Requires employers to: use engineering and work practice controls to limit worker exposure to beryllium; provide respirators when controls cannot adequately limit exposure; limit worker access to high-exposure areas; develop a written exposure control plan; and train workers on beryllium hazards.
• Requires employers to make available medical exams to monitor exposed workers and provides medical removal protection benefits to workers identified with a beryllium-related disease.

 
“Chronic beryllium disease is a pulmonary disease that can cause debilitation or death so protecting workers against exposure to elevated levels of beryllium and its compounds is critical,” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental. “At Zimmetry, we offer occupational exposure testing and monitoring for beryllium and a wide range of other industrial hygiene services. These services not only protect employees, they also help to keep companies in regulatory compliance to avoid costly fines.”
 
Zimmetry recently sponsored an educational video about the new beryllium rule that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/xGdLaCCW4oc
 
To learn more about Zimmetry Environmental and their occupational, industrial hygiene, environmental, air quality, compliance and consulting services, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .
 
About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies.  The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America.  The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.

Contact Information

Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

Contact via E-mail