BOSH Special Meeting

June 9, 2020

For Immediate Release: June 9, 2020

BOSH Special Meeting

The Board of Occupational Safety & Health (BOSH) will hold a special meeting on June 18, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regulations protecting Maine's public workforce during a pandemic and to determine whether the current standards are adequate to enable the Bureau of Labor Standards (BLS) to effectively conduct enforcement of those regulations in the public sector.

The Bureau of Labor Standards is an OSHA State Plan with occupational safety and health regulatory authority for state and local governments only. BLS does not have jurisdiction in federal or private sector workplaces; those workplaces fall under OSHA jurisdiction.

Title 26, Chapter 6, 565. Powers and duties of board:

The board shall formulate and adopt reasonable rules, pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II, for safe and healthful working conditions, including rules requiring the use of personal protective equipment, monitoring and record keeping. The rules so formulated shall at a minimum conform to federal standards of occupational safety and health, so that the state program can be federally approved as a public employee only occupational safety and health program. These rules shall not become effective sooner than 90 days after the date of adoption and promulgation.

Due to the current public health emergency, this meeting will be conducted remotely.

Please contact Josselyn Skehan at (207) 623-7922 or Josselyn.K.Skehan@maine.gov for access information.