Longshoring and Marine Terminals

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is revising its Safety and Health Regulations for Longshoring and those parallel sections of its Marine Terminals Standard. These rules address cargo handling and related activities conducted aboard vessels (the Longshoring Standard) and landside operations at marine terminals (the Marine Terminals Standard). The comprehensive revisions to the Longshoring Standard essentially rewrite that standard for the first time since it was adopted in 1971 under Section 6(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, while the amendments being made to the Marine Terminals Standard will provide consistency with the language of the new Longshoring Standard. The changes that OSHA is making to both standards are part of OSHA's continuing efforts to reinvent its workplace regulations to keep them current with evolving work practices and to reduce inconsistencies in regulatory requirements. Although the longshoring and marine terminal rules are ``vertical'' standards that apply only to longshoring and marine terminal activities, OSHA has also made minor changes to some of the general industry provisions referenced within these rules. These changes, which are non-substantive, have been made to conform the general industry requirements to the terminology used in the marine cargo-handling environment. This final document contains requirements for the testing and certification of specific types of cargo lifting appliances and associated auxiliary gear and other cargo handling equipment such as conveyors and industrial trucks; access to vessels; entry into hazardous atmospheres; working surfaces; and use of personal protective equipment. Additionally, OSHA addresses specialized longshoring operations such as containerized cargo, logging, and roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) operations. The principal hazards this rule addresses are injuries and fatalities associated with cargo lifting gear, transfer of vehicular cargo, manual cargo handling,