Rulemaking Actions

Occupational Safety and Health Division - 13 NCAC 07F. 0101, General Industry Standards

Notice is hereby given in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 150B-21.2 that the Department of Labor intends to amend the rules cited as 13 NCAC 07F.0101.

October 25, 2024, REVISION of DATE:

The proposed amendment to 13 NCAC 07F.0101 was posted in the NC Register 39:05 at page 210-211: Volume-39-Issue-05-September-3-2024.pdf. Federal OSHA has recently notified state plan states that they made a rule change to the Hazard Communication rule correcting some errors in the standard effective October 9, 2024. The errors are noted to be “inadvertent.” After a thorough internal review, the NCDOL noted the October 9, 2024, amendments to be primarily typographical. The amendment is published in 89 Federal Register 196 at 81829: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-10-09/pdf/2024-23144.pdf. The NC Department of Labor is revising the rule date to include the October 9, 2024, Federal OSHA amendment. The July 1, 2024, date noted will be revised to October 10, 2024. All interested parties have been notified by email effective October 25, 2024.

NCDOL is proposing to amend 13 NCAC 07F.0101, which incorporates by reference the federal Occupational Safety and Health General Industry Standards, 29 CFR 1910.  The amendment  only applies to Hazard Communication, 29 CFR 1910.1200.  The federal OSHA rule was published May 20, 2024, in the Federal Register, Volume 89, Number 98 (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-05-20/pdf/2024-08568.pdf) and became effective July 19, 2024.

NCDOL has previously adopted 29 CFR 1910 in its entirety in 13 NCAC 07F. 0101 through an incorporation by reference. This amendment is required by 29 CFR 1902.4(a)(1) [Indices of effectiveness] and N.C. Gen. Stat. § § 95-131(a) and (e) and § 95-133 in order for North Carolina’s Occupational Safety and Health State Plan to be as effective as the federal OSHA program, and for North Carolina to maintain its State Plan status pursuant to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The amendment to 13 NCAC 07F. 0101 regarding the General Industry Hazard Communication standard is being filed in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 150B-21.2 and 150B-21.6.

The reason for the amendment is that a recent federal OSHA amendment was made to the current General Industry Hazard Communication Standard (“HCS”), at 29 CFR 1910.1200; the purpose of the amendment is to conform the existing Hazard Communication Standard to the 7th revision of the United Nations’ Globally Harmonizing System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals to address issues that arose during the implementation of the 2012 update to the HCS and provide better alignment with the other U.S. agencies and international trading partners, while enhancing the effectiveness of the HCS. Federal OSHA has determined that the revisions to the HCS will enhance the HCS effectiveness by ensuring employees are appropriately apprised of the chemical hazards to which they may be exposed thus reducing the incidence of occupational illnesses and injuries. The modifications to the standard include revised criteria for classification of certain health and physical hazards, revised provisions for updating labels, new labeling provisions for updating labels, new labeling provisions for small containers, new provision related to trade secrets, technical amendments related to the contests of safety data sheets, and related revisions to definitions of terms used in the HCS.

The official public notice may be found in the NC Register, Volume 39, Issue 05, to be published on September 3, 2024: https://www.oah.nc.gov/rules-division/north-carolina-register.  

A Public Hearing will be held on September 19, 2024, at 10:00 a.m.  The Public Hearing will be held both live and online.  The location of the public hearing will be the 2nd floor of the Labor Building, 4 West Edenton Street, Raleigh, NC 27601 or online via https://call.lifesizecloud.com/22124720.  

Public comments will be accepted at the September 19 public hearing, or you may submit written comments on the proposed amendments to: Jill F. Cramer, 1101 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1101; email to dol.rules@labor.nc.gov. The comment period ends November 4, 2024.

Documents

Boiler and Pressure Vessel Bureau:

NCDOL is proposing amending rules established by the Boiler and Pressure Vessels Safety Bureau. Notice is hereby given in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. 150B-21.2 that the Department of Labor intends to amend the rules cited as 13 NCAC 13 .0101, .0103, .0202, .0203, .0207, .0208, .0210, .0211, .0213, .0214, .0301-.0305, .0401, .0405, .0409, .0411, .0413 and .0420- .0423.

The primary reason for the amendments is to make corrections to existing rules, update terminology, and to harmonize the rules with statutory amendments made pursuant to Senate Bill 542, ratified May 23, 2024 as Session Law 2024-3: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S542v5.pdf. Specific reasons for each rule amendment may be found in the NC Register. Volume 39, Issue 01.

The official public notice may be found in the NC Register, Volume 39, Issue 01, published July 1, 2024 on pages 16-34 https://www.oah.nc.gov/documents/north-carolina-register?combine=&page=0 Comments on the proposed amendments may be submitted to: Jill F. Cramer, 1101 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1101; email to dol.rules@labor.nc.gov. The comment period ends August 30, 2024.

This page was last modified on 11/01/2024