May 18, 1992

The Honorable Gene Taylor
U.S. House of Representatives
701 Main Street
Suite 215
Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39401

Dear Congressman Taylor:

Thank you for your letter of March 30, addressed to Acting Assistant Secretary Dorothy Strunk, requesting specific information and guidelines affecting persons employed in logging industry.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has standards to protect workers in the logging industry set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations at CFR 1910.266 (copy enclosed). This standard applies to pulpwood logging operations including but not limited to the operations of felling, limbing, marking, bucking, loading, skidding, prehauling and other operations associated with the preparation and movement of pulpwood timber from the stump of the point of delivery. It applies to other logging operations, which may include logs cut for other end uses such as saw logs and veneer bolts, if logs are also being cut for pulpwood. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on logging operations (copy enclosed) was published in the Federal Register on May 2, 1989. The proposed rule is intended to strengthen and clarify some provisions of the current standard, and to eliminate other provisions believed to be inappropriate or unnecessary. The proposed standard also addresses unique hazards found in logging operations.

Since October 1986, OSHA has conducted local emphasis logging industry inspection programs in selected OSHA regions. Those programs provide targeted inspections which are undertaken in addition to those scheduled in accordance with the general inspection policies of OSHA. The concentration of inspection activities in the logging industry is intended to heighten the awareness of employers and employees with regard to hazards in their industry and to OSHA safety and health standards.

Logging industry inspections are conducted no differently than other inspections as specified in the OSHA Field Operations Manual. We are providing a copy of "OSHA Inspections", an OSHA publication, which explains these procedures briefly.

Thank you for your interest in occupational safety and health. If we may be of further assistance please call on us.

Sincerely,



Patricia K. Clark, Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs

Enclosures