XIV. Effective Date
In developing the Final Rule, OSHA has considered whether a delayed effective date is necessary for any of the provisions of the standard. Since the Final Rule does not require extensive retrofitting or major modifications of existing equipment, the Agency believes that 60 days is adequate time for employers to obtain the necessary hardware (primarily lockout and tagout devices). This amount of time should also be adequate for the development of the energy control program and procedures required by the standard. The record indicates that many industries with highly complex equipment, such as the automotive, chemical, and petroleum industries, have already implemented lockout or tagout procedures which would need to be modified little, if at all, to meet the standard. For those employers who will need to develop new procedures to comply with the standard, the standard provides considerable guidance to assist in that development process. Appendix A to the Final Rule sets forth an example of a simple procedure which can be tailored to the individual workplace in situations involving a single energy source. OSHA believes that many employers, particularly small businesses, will be able to use this procedure by filling in the blanks with the necessary information. For more complex situations, a more complex procedure may be necessary. During this rulemaking, interested parties submitted a wide range of procedures and information on their implementation to the rulemaking record, and these materials are available for review and copying in OSHA's Docket Office.
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Regulations (Preambles to Final Rules) - Table of Contents
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