Does "Subpart R - Special Industries" Apply to You?
Subpart R provides standards for specific industries and are considered vertical standards as they apply to a particular industry. These standards apply to the following industries: manufacturing pulp, paper, and paperboard; manufacturing or processing textiles; bakery and equipment; laundry and laundry equipment; sawmills; logging operations; telecommunications; electric power generation, transmission and distribution; and grain handling.
Do you manufacture and convert pulp, paper and/or paperboard? Do you manufacture and process textiles? Do you have bakery operations? Do you have laundry operations using laundry equipment? Do you have a sawmill? Do you have logging operations? Do you have telecommunication operations? Do you have electric power generation, transmission, and/or distribution installations? Do you have grain handling operations? If you answered yes to any of these questions, click on the appropriate tab below for more information.
Note: General industry standards covering issues of occupational safety and health which are of general application without regard to any specific industry may also apply.
If yes, you need to comply with the standard on pulp, paper, and paperboard mills. It applies to establishments where pulp, paper, and paperboard are manufactured and converted. It does not apply to logging and the transportation of logs to pulp, paper, and paperboard mills.
It provides requirements for safe practices, handling and storage of pulpwood and pulp chips, handling and storage of raw materials other than pulpwood or pulp chips, preparing pulpwood, rag and old paper preparation, chemical processes of making pulp, bleaching, stock preparation, machine room, finishing room, and materials handling. It also references consensus standards incorporated by reference.
Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topic pages for combustible dust, materials handling and storage, organic solvents, amputations and personal protective equipment. For assistance with consensus standards, contact the NCDOL Library.
If yes, then you need to comply with the standard on textiles. It applies to the design, installation, processes, operation, and maintenance of textile machinery, equipment, and other plant facilities in all plants engaged in the manufacture and processing of textiles, except those processes used exclusively in the manufacture of synthetic fibers.
It provides general safety requirements (i.e., lighting, inspections, maintenance, identification of physical hazards) and definitions, along with requirements for openers and pickers, cotton cards, Garnett machines, spinning mules, slashers, warpers, gill boxes, looms, continuous bleach range (cotton and rayon), kiers, mercerizing range (piece goods), tenter frames, dyeing jigs, drying cans, flat-work ironer, extractors, nip guards, sanforizing and palmer machine, rope washers, laundry washer tumbler or shaker, printing machine (roller type), calenders. rotary staple cutters, bailing machine, roll bench, acid carboys, first aid, dye kettles and vats, handling caustic soda and potash, cuttle or swing folders (overhead type), and color-mixing room. It also references consensus standards incorporated by reference and provides definitions such as:
A calender in essence consists of a set of heavy rollers mounted on vertical side frames and arranged to pass cloth between them. Calenders may have two to ten rollers, or bowls, some of which can be heated.
A Garnett machine means any of a number of types of machines for opening hard twisted waste of wool, cotton, silk, etc. Essentially, such machines consist of a lickerin; one or more cylinders, each having a complement worker and stripper rolls; and a fancy roll and doffer. The action of such machines is somewhat like that of a wool card, but it is much more severe in that the various rolls are covered with Garnett wire instead of card clothing.
A gill box is a machine used in the worsted system of manufacturing yarns. Its function is to arrange the fibers in parallel order. Essentially, it consists of a pair of feed rolls and a series of followers where the followers move at a faster surface speed and perform a combing action.
A kier is a large metal vat, usually a pressure type, in which fabrics may be boiled out, bleached, etc.
Openers and pickers means a general classification which includes breaker pickers, intermediate pickers, finisher pickers, single process pickers, multiple process pickers, willow machines, card and picker waste cleaners, thread extractors, shredding machines, roving waste openers, shoddy pickers, bale breakers, feeders, vertical openers, lattice cleaners, horizontal cleaners, and any similar machinery equipped with either cylinders, screen section, calender section, rolls, or beaters used for the preparation of stock for further processing.
A tenter frame is a machine for drying cloth under tension. It essentially consists of a pair of endless traveling chains fitted with clips of fine pins and carried on tracks. The cloth is firmly held at the selvages by the two chains which diverge as they move forward so that the cloth is brought to the desired width.
A mule is a type of spinning frame having a head stock and a carriage as its two main sections. The head stock is stationary. The carriage is movable and it carries the spindles which draft and spin the roving into the yarn. The carriage extends over the whole width of the machine and moves slowly toward and away from the head stock during the spinning operation.
A card machine consists of cylinders of various sizes—and in certain cases flats—covered with card clothing and set in relation to each other so that fibers in staple form may be separated into individual relationship. The speed of the cylinders and their direction of rotation varies. The finished product is delivered as a sliver. Cards of different types are: The revolving flat card, the roller-and-clearer card, etc.
Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topic pages for personal protective equipment, machine guarding, organic solvents, amputations and combustible dust. For assistance with consensus standards, contact the NCDOL Library. Also reference the OSH Division enforcement documents related to textiles such as Standards Notice (SN) 01 - Textiles and SN 26 - Guarding of the Sides of Carding Machines Used in the Textile Industry.
If yes, then you need to comply with the bakery equipment standard. It applies to the design, installation, operation and maintenance of machinery and equipment used within a bakery. It provides general machine guarding requirements, and general requirements for flour handling, mixers, dividers, moulders, manually fed dough brakes, miscellaneous equipment (i.e., conveyors, racks, hand trucks), biscuit and cracker equipment, and ovens. It also references consensus standards incorporated by reference.
Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topic pages for personal protective equipment, machine guarding, amputations and combustible dust. For assistance with consensus standards, contact the NCDOL Library.
If yes, you need to comply with the laundry machinery and operations standard. It applies to moving parts of equipment used in laundries and to conditions peculiar to this industry, with special reference to the point of operation of laundry machines. This standard does not apply to dry-cleaning operations. It provides requirements for point-of-operation guards and operating rules.
Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topic pages for machine guarding and amputations. Also reference OSH Division enforcement documents related to laundry such as Standards Notice (SN) 07 - Laundry Machinery and Operations.
If yes, then you need to comply with the sawmills standard. It applies to sawmill operations including, but not limited to, log and lumber handling, sawing, trimming, and planing; waste disposal; operation of dry kilns; finishing; shipping; storage; yard and yard equipment; and for power tools and affiliated equipment used in connection with such operations, but excluding the manufacture of plywood, cooperage, and veneer.
It provides requirements for building facilities and isolated equipment; log handling, sorting, and storage; log breakdown and related machinery and facilities; dry kilns and facilities. It also references consensus standards incorporated by reference and provides definitions such as:
The term safety factor means a calculated reduction factor which may be applied to laboratory test values to obtain safe working stresses for wooden beams and other mechanical members; ratio of breaking load to safe load.
Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topic pages for personal protective equipment, logging, arboriculture, machine guarding, amputations and combustible dust. For assistance with consensus standards, contact the NCDOL Library.
If yes, then you need to comply with the logging operations standard. It applies to all types of logging, regardless of the end use of the wood. These types of logging include, but are not limited to, pulpwood and timber harvesting and the logging of sawlogs, veneer bolts, poles, pilings and other forest products. This standard does not cover the construction or use of cable yarding systems. Note: Hazards and working conditions not specifically addressed by this standard are covered by other applicable general industry standards. This standard applies to all logging operations as defined below:
Logging operations - Operations associated with felling and moving trees and logs from the stump to the point of delivery, such as, but not limited to, marking danger trees and trees/logs to be cut to length, felling, limbing, bucking, debarking, chipping, yarding, loading, unloading, storing, and transporting machines, equipment and personnel to, from and between logging sites.
This standard provides general requirements (i.e., personal protective equipment, first aid kits, seatbelts, fire extinguishers, electrical lines, flammable liquids, explosives), hand and portable powered tools (i.e., chainsaws), machine use, vehicles, tree harvesting, and employee training. It also references consensus standards incorporated by reference. Appendix A provides a list for first aid kits and appendix B provides an acceptable first aid and CPR training program.
Related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topic pages for logging, bloodborne pathogens, arboriculture, medical services and first aid, machine guarding, flammable liquids, electrical safety, amputations, and personal protective equipment. Additional assistance with consensus standards can be obtained by contacting the NCDOL Library. Further, occupational exposure to hazards encountered in logging falls within the OSH Division logging and arboriculture special emphasis program.
If yes, then you need to comply with the telecommunications standard. It applies to all operations, installations and processes performed at telecommunications centers and at telecommunications field installations, which are located outdoors or in building spaces used for such field installations.
- Center work includes the installation, operation, maintenance, rearrangement, and removal of communications equipment and other associated equipment in telecommunications switching centers.
- Field work includes the installation, operation, maintenance, rearrangement, and removal of conductors and other equipment used for signal or communication service, and of their supporting or containing structures, overhead or underground, on public or private rights of way, including buildings or other structures.
The telecommunications standards do not apply to construction work (Means work for construction, alteration, and/or repair, including painting and decorating) nor to installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities used for the purpose of communications or metering, or for generation, control, transformation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy, which are located in buildings used exclusively by the electric utilities for such purposes, or located outdoors on property owned or leased by the electric utilities or on public highways, streets, roads, etc., or outdoors by established rights on private property.
Note: Operations or conditions not specifically covered by this standard are subject to all the applicable general industry standards. Operations which involve construction work are subject to all the applicable standards contained in the construction standards.
This standard provides requirements for buildings containing telecommunications centers, training, employee protection in public work areas, tools and personal protective equipment, rubber insulating equipment, personal climbing equipment, ladders, vehicle-mounted material handling devices and other mechanical equipment, materials handling and storage, cable fault locating and testing, grounding for employee protection - pole lines, overhead lines, underground lines, microwave transmission, tree trimming, buried facilities, and definitions. It also references consensus standards incorporated by reference.
Telecommunications center - An installation of communication equipment under the exclusive control of an organization providing telecommunications service, that is located outdoors or in a vault, chamber, or a building space used primarily for such installations.
Note: Telecommunication centers are facilities established, equipped and arranged in accordance with engineered plans for the purpose of providing telecommunications service. They may be located on premises owned or leased by the organization providing telecommunication service, or on the premises owned or leased by others. This definition includes switch rooms (whether electromechanical, electronic, or computer controlled), terminal rooms, power rooms, repeater rooms, transmitter and receiver rooms, switchboard operating rooms, cable vaults, and miscellaneous communications equipment rooms. Simulation rooms of telecommunication centers for training or developmental purposes are also included.
Additional related information can be found on the A-Z safety and health topics pages for aerial lifts, arboriculture, electrical safety, materials handling and storage, walking and working surfaces, amputations and personal protective equipment. For assistance with consensus standards, contact the NCDOL Library. Also reference OSH Division enforcement documents related to telecommunications such as Standards Notice (SN) 54 - Standby Personnel at Telecommunications Manhole.
If yes, then you need to comply with the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution standard. It applies to power generation, transmission, and distribution installations, including related equipment for the purpose of communication or metering that are accessible only to qualified employees. The types of installations include the generation, transmission, and distribution installations of electric utilities, as well as equivalent installations of industrial establishments. Note: Subpart S - Electrical covers supplementary electric generating equipment that is used to supply a workplace for emergency, standby, or similar purposes only. It also provides the electrical standards that address the practical safeguarding of employees in the workplace.
It applies to other installations at an electric power generating station, as follows:
- Fuel and ash handling and processing installations, such as coal conveyors, water and steam installations, such as penstocks, pipelines, and tanks, providing a source of energy for electric generators, and chlorine and hydrogen systems;
- Test sites where employees perform electrical testing involving temporary measurements associated with electric power generation, transmission, and distribution in laboratories, in the field, in substations, and on lines, as opposed to metering, relaying, and routine line work;
- Work on, or directly associated with, these installations and line-clearance tree trimming performed for the purpose of clearing space around electric power generation, transmission, or distribution lines or equipment and on behalf of an organization that operates, or that controls the operating procedures for, those lines or equipment.
This standard provides requirements for medical services and first aid, job briefings, lockout/tagout procedures, enclosed spaces, personal protective equipment, portable ladders and platforms, hand and portable power equipment, live-line tools, materials handling and storage, working on or near exposed energized parts, deenergizing lines and equipment for employee protection, grounding for the protection of employees, testing and test facilities, mechanical equipment, overhead lines and live-line barehand work, line-clearance tree trimming, communication facilities, substations, guarding of rooms and other spaces containing electric supply equipment, and special conditions. In addition, appendix A provides a guidance flow chart to the standard, appendix B provides guidance for working on exposed energized parts, appendix C provides information on protection from hazardous differences in electric potential, appendix D provides methods of inspecting and testing wood poles, appendix E provides protection from flames and electric arcs, and appendix F provides work-positioning equipment inspection guidelines.
It also references consensus standards and provides definitions such as:
Affected employee - An employee whose job requires him or her to operate or use a machine or equipment on which servicing or maintenance is being performed under lockout or tagout, or whose job requires him or her to work in an area in which such servicing or maintenance is being performed.
Authorized employee - An employee who locks out or tags out machines or equipment in order to perform servicing or maintenance on that machine or equipment. An affected employee becomes an authorized employee when that employee's duties include performing servicing or maintenance covered under this standard.
Designated employee (designated person) - An employee (or person) who is assigned by the employer to perform specific duties under the terms of this section and who has sufficient knowledge of the construction and operation of the equipment, and the hazards involved, to perform his or her duties safely.
Other related information can be found in the A-Z safety and health topics pages for electrical safety, aerial lifts, arboriculture, medical services and first aid, lockout/tagout, confined spaces, amputations and personal protective equipment. Additional assistance with consensus standards can be obtained by contacting the NCDOL Library.
If yes, then you need to comply with the grain handling facilities standard. It applies to grain elevators, feed mills, flour mills, rice mills, dust pelletizing plants, dry corn mills, soybean flaking operations, and the dry grinding operations of soycake and contains requirements for the control of grain dust fires and explosions, and certain other safety hazards associated with grain handling facilities and applies, in addition, to all other relevant provisions of the general industry standards (or marine terminal standards).
The requirements pertain to emergency action plans (reference the standard on emergency action plans), training, hot work permits, entry into grain storage structures, entry into flat storage structures, contractors, housekeeping, grate openings, filter collectors, preventive maintenance, grain stream processing equipment, emergency escape, continuous-flow bulk raw grain dryers, and inside bucket elevators. Appendix A provides examples of achieving performance goals in the standard. It also includes definitions such as:
Hot work means work involving electric or gas welding, cutting, brazing, or similar flame producing operations.
Grain elevator means a facility engaged in the receipt, handling, storage, and shipment of bulk raw agricultural commodities such as corn, wheat, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, and soybeans.
Fugitive grain dust means combustible dust particles, emitted from the stock handling system, of such size as will pass through a U.S. Standard 40 mesh sieve (425 microns or less).
Other related information can be found in the A-Z safety and health topics pages for grain handing facilities, emergency action plans, combustible dust, respiratory protection, welding and cutting, amputations and personal protective equipment.