Written comments received, notices of intention to appear, testimony, and all other material related to the development of this proposed standard will be available for inspection and copying in the public record in the Docket Office, Room N2624, at the above address. OSHA believes the most efficient way to consider these matters is to combine the rulemaking into one proceeding that shares the same record. If the evidence indicates different requirements are needed for different sectors, this can be accommodated in the final standard. Also, some commenters to the March proposal requested a public hearing. In addition, OSHA is scheduling a public hearing for all sectors commencing April 30, 1996.
Regional hearings create substantial expense.
The Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health made several recommendations for powered industrial truck training in the construction industry that may have merit for other sectors as well. Accordingly, OSHA is requesting comment on these issues for all sectors, in addition to the other issues arising from the proposal. Employees sometimes work only briefly for an employer and it might be inefficient for an employer with high turnover to have to specifically review the performance of each new employee. There would need to be some mechanism to ensure that the operator would be trained in the conditions comparable to those found at the work site and that the employer would know that the operator had been adequately trained. They asserted that the requirement would assist in lowering accident rates.