The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released an 89-page health and safety guide for metalworking fluids (MWFs). “Metalworking Fluids: Safety and Health Best Practices Manual” had been under development by OSHA for nearly four years, and it draws upon recommendations from the Agency’s MWFs Standards Advisory Committee (SAC), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Criteria Document on Occupational Exposures to Metalworking Fluids, and the Organization Resource Counselors’ (ORC) “Management of the Metal Removal Fluid Environment: A Guide to the Safe and Efficient Use of Metal Removal Fluids.”

Castrol Industrial’s Dr. John Howell represented ILMA on the OSHA SAC. ORC’s best practices and recommendations were developed and have been revised in conjunction with the Metal Working Fluids Product Stewardship Group. ILMA’s Safety, Health, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs (SHERA) Committee is reviewing the just-released OSHA guide. The Association had raised concerns in earlier drafts of the document, especially statements by the Agency about certain health effects from MWF exposures and the recommendation for medical monitoring.

OSHA explicitly states in its introduction to the manual that the document does not constitute a new standard or regulation. Further, the Agency clarifies that the guide is advisory in nature and does not create new legal obligations. For example, OSHA notes that an employer’s failure to implement its guidelines is not, in itself, a violation of the Agency’s “General Duty Clause,” the catchall provision for employers to provide workplaces free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

While OSHA states that the manual will not be used for enforcement purposes, ILMA counsel Jeff Leiter warns that employers who use MWFs need to determine whether the OSHA document creates a “standard of care” that could give rise to liability under common law tort theories.

The guide can be found on OSHA’s web site at: www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/metalworkingfluids/metalworkingfluids_manual.html.

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