By publication in today’s Federal Register, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission is seeking comments for revisions to its Rules of Procedure.

OSHRC’s procedural rules were last revised in 2005.  Recent developments in technology, including the implementation of the agency’s e-filing system, as well as lessons learned from the evolution of practice before the Commission, warrant a comprehensive review of our procedural rules.

While all rules are open for comment, the Commission is particularly interested in hearing, especially from practitioners, about specific procedural areas including, but not limited to, whether rules regarding computation of time should be simplified, e-filing should be mandatory, the requirement for agency approval of settlements should be narrowed or eliminated, and the definition of “affected employee” should be broadened.  For a complete listing of the rules the Commission is especially interested in considering for revision, refer to the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register at (link).  The comment period opens on September 7, 2018, and will close on October 9, 2018.