Washington – OSHA is developing a request for information on how to effectively address workplace exposures to chemicals.

The RFI is expected either later this summer or early fall, OSHA Administrator David Michaels said (.pdf file) at a June 20 meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health.

Most permissible exposure limits were adopted in 1971 and have not been updated since. Many people agree the PELs need to be updated, according to Michaels, and OSHA has hosted stakeholder meetings and a web forum to discuss the issue.

In addition to the RFI, OSHA is developing annotated PEL tables that will include occupational exposure limits developed by NIOSH, California’s OSHA program, and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Once developed, the tables will be available on OSHA’s website.