Letter Of Interpretation Requires That Construction Workers Wear High-Visibility Warning Garments

High-visibility garments are required safety attire for highway and road construction workers according to a new letter of interpretation recently released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (on October 20^th).

In 2004, OSHA issued a letter of interpretation about the use of high-visibility apparel in highway construction. The letter emphasized that section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act  (AKA General Duty Clause) requires workers in highway work zones to wear high-visibility apparel.  However, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ruled that OSHA’s letter indicated a more limited position: high-visibility garments are only required where the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) mandates their use.  Click here if you are interested in the complete MUTCD test.

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) recently issued a final rule regarding worker visibility (Worker Visibility, 23 CFR Part 634).  This rule requires all workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to construction equipment within the work area shall wear high-visibility safety apparel.  In response to this change, OSHA is issued a new letter stating that all highway and road construction workers must wear high-visibility apparel regardless of whether the MUTCD requires them. OSHA considers road and construction traffic a well-recognized hazard to highway/road construction workers.

Click here for for more details on this issue.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 7:45 am and is filed under Workplace Compliance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.