Industry Eyes Cautious Stance On OSHA’s Possible Lead Standard Update

Employers are tentatively backing a potential OSHA rule to tighten its decades-old limit for workers’ blood lead levels but are urging the agency to be cautious with any broader revisions to the lead exposure standards, especially if officials intend to model the federal update on strict proposals pending in Washington and California. An industry source tells Inside OSHA that it has been widely accepted for years that recent studies of lead’s toxic effects show that the agency’s current standard...