The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division is revising (.pdf file) its rules to allow businesses with fewer than 10 employees to have safety meetings instead of a formal safety committee.
Under previous rules, a business with fewer than 10 employees may have been required to form a safety committee based on its rate of time-off-work claims or if it was in a high-risk industry. The requirement even applied to employers with as few as one part-time employee. Now, businesses with fewer than 10 employees will have the option to instead hold safety meetings, which Oregon OSHA said will reduce paperwork. The rule will take effect Jan. 1, 2009.
