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Text from the OSHA Standard Amendment issued September 8, 1995 in the Federal Register Text from the OSHA Logging Standard Amendment issued September 8, 1995 in the Federal Register

Paragraph (d)(1)(v) -- Cut-Resistant Foot Protection

The final rule requires that the employer assure that each employee wears foot protection, covering and supporting the foot and ankle, which is waterproof or water repellent. OSHA stayed one aspect of the foot protection provision which required that logging boots provide protection from penetration by chain saws. Some parties requested OSHA to drop the chain-saw penetration requirement, contending that rubber and calk-soled logging boots providing employees protection from penetration by chain saws were neither necessary nor available.

The rulemaking record strongly supports the need for logging footwear which protects chain-saw operators against penetration by chain saws. As OSHA discussed in the preamble to the final rule, 10 percent of injuries reported in the WIR survey were to the foot and ankle (Ex. 2-1). In addition, APA submitted to the record an injury report where a chain-saw operator who was not wearing protective footwear cut off his foot when the bar went through the soft spot of a tree trunk and into his foot (Ex. 26A).

Reports of foot injuries resulting from chain saws led several commenters to recommend that OSHA require foot protection be cut-resistant (Tr. W1 148, 195; Tr. W2 139). For example, Mr. Joseph William, owner of Jayfor Logging, said he provides and requires employees to wear cut-resistant logging boots (Tr. W1 195). In addition, Mr. Williams said all employers that are members of the Nortim program, a logging workers' compensation insurance group, must assure that employees wear cut-resistant foot protection (Tr. W1 158, 195).

Based on its reconsideration of the record, OSHA maintains that an employee operating a chain saw needs to wear logging boots which will provide protection against penetration by the saw. However, based on discussions during the stay, OSHA is correcting the language of this requirement to express more clearly the Agency's intent regarding the type of chain-saw protection that is required for the foot. In the final rule, OSHA intended by the language "protect the employee from penetration by chain saws" to mean that foot protection worn by employees be equipped with material that is cut-resistant to chain saws. That is, OSHA intended that foot protection prevent the chain saw from cutting the employee before the employee is able to react, or before the protective material jams the chain saw. The language in the final rule was not intended to require that the protective material itself must be totally impervious to penetration by a chain saw. Rather, the available protective clothing and footwear is equipped with multiple layers of protective material, such as but not limited to ballistic nylon, Kevlar, or the layered-material in heavy-duty logging boots; which provide cut resistance as follows: the protective material must either provide enough resistance to the saw chain to give the operator time to react and pull the saw away from the foot before the saw chain penetrates through all the layers, or jam the flywheel and chain, thereby stopping the saw. OSHA is revising the regulatory text to indicate that leg protection must be made of material that is cut-resistant, as OSHA has defined it above. OSHA stresses that this change is merely adoption of terminology which is used in the industry, but the use of this term does not change the meaning or intention of the final rule.(1)

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Footnote(1) OSHA notes that the most important aspect of the protective material is not that it be made specifically of ballistic nylon, but that it is comparably cut-resistant. OSHA intended its use of the term "ballistic nylon" in the final rule to be consistent with the industry's generic use of the term as shorthand for cut-resistant materials in general. Indeed, in the preamble to the final rule, OSHA discussed several types of materials which are currently available to provide protection against chain-saw cuts.

Some parties also said that rubber and calk-soled boots which are needed in working in the steep terrain of the northwest were not manufactured with chain-saw cut-resistant material. However, the rulemaking record shows that such boots are available and have been available for a considerable period of time (Ex. 4-103, 5-30). Specifically, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, the manufacturer of Kevlar, told OSHA in 1989 that rubber logging boots were available that contain Kevlar, and which du Pont "feel[s] offers adequate protection against chain saw injuries, based on European test standards" (Ex. 5-30). In addition, an article from the June 1987 The Logger and Lumberman said that a cut-resistant rubber boot, which had been successfully tested by the U.S. Forest Service, was available (Ex. 4-103). Moreover, in discussions with other manufacturers and distributors of personal protective equipment during the six-month stay, OSHA has confirmed its original conclusion that a variety of companies currently manufacture logging boots, including rubber and calk-soled boots, which are equipped with material to protect against chain saw cuts. Therefore, OSHA is lifting the stay of this requirement. Effective September 8, 1995, employers shall assure that foot protection worn by each employee who operates a chain saw, including rubber, calk-soled and other slip-resistant boots, is chain-saw cut-resistant.

OSHA has also clarified the final rule to indicate that the cut-resistant foot protection requirement applies only to employees who operate a chain saw. OSHA notes and is specifying in the revised compliance directive that this applies to any operation of a chain saw, whether as a regular part of the employee's job or incidental to the job. There is nothing in the records that indicates chain-saw accidents involve only those who operate chain saws on a regular basis. OSHA believes that those who operate chain saws only infrequently may be at particular risk because they may be less familiar with the chain saw and less experienced in managing the hazards associated with its operation. Based upon the hazards to employees when they use a chain saw and the ready availability of the protective equipment to minimize such hazards, OSHA believes that all employees who use a chain saw must be protected against foot injury regardless of the frequency of the chain saw usage. Logging employees who do not operate chain saws at all need not have foot protection that is chain-saw cut-resistant.

OSHA also stresses that the foot protection requirement in the final rule is expressed in performance terms. For example, nothing in the final rule requires that employees wear steel-toed logging boots in order to meet the cut-resistance requirement. Steel-toed boots meeting the ANSI foot protection requirements do provide adequate protection against chain-saw cuts for the toe. However, if such boots do not have material to protect the rest of the foot from chain-saw cuts they do not comply with the final rule. The final rule requires that logging boots for chain-saw operators must provide cut-resistant protection for the foot, not just the toe. The record indicates that there is available supplemental cut-resistant foot protection which can be attached to logging boots to provide the needed protection (Ex. 5-14).

After publication of the final rule, OSHA was requested by some parties to clarify the rule to indicate from what type of material logging boots must be constructed. They recommended that OSHA specify that logging boots be made of industrial grade or top grain leather or other material. Instead of specifying the type of material which must be used, OSHA has expressed the requirement in performance terms. For example, OSHA has specified that foot protection cover and provide support to the ankle. The purpose of this requirement is to help reduce the significant number of ankle and foot injuries (sprains and fractures) (Ex. 2-1). OSHA is confident that employers and employees will be able to select logging boots that provide adequate ankle support because various logging associations already recognize that hiking and other light duty boots do not provide sufficient protection.(2)

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Footnote(2) OSHA notes that the final rule does not require the employer to provide logging boots for employees. The cost of providing logging boots may be borne by employees. The employer, however, must assure that logging boots which are worn by an employee are in serviceable condition and meet the requirements of paragraph (d)(1)(vi) of the final rule.

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