OSHA Letter May Help Respirator Manufacuturers

According to an article in OH&S, "OSHA may have given respirator manufacturers an important assist with a letter dated Jan. 9 that was addressed to Daniel K. Shipp, president of the International Safety Equipment Association. Posted by OSHA on Jan. 14 among a batch of letters of interpretation, this one was signed by Acting OSHA Assistant Secretary Thomas Stohler. ISEA specifically asked on May 19, 2008, for OSHA to take a position on whether the OSHAct and OSHA regulations preempt state court tort law claims, and Stohler answered yes. The question is whether his letter influences state judges to reject hundreds of thousands of state court claims, more than 325,000 asbestos and silica claims filed since 2000 against respirator manufacturers, according to ISEA. Shipp's letter requesting the opinion said MSA, Moldex-Metric, North, and Sperian Protection experienced a 500 percent increase in silica claims between 2002 and 2004."

This is a very interesting article (click here to read the entire article) and I suspect that this will be a long, on-going court challenge. Keep your eyes and ears open for more on this topic.