Many employers in the construction industry, in shipyards, and in several other industries are subject to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) standards covering workplace exposure to hexavalent chromium, a potentially harmful substance that can cause lung cancer and other serious health conditions.  Among other things, OSHA standards require employers to monitor employee exposure to hexavalent chromium in the workplace and to notify affected employees of exposure levels in excess of the permissible exposure level of five micrograms per cubic meter of air.

On March 16, 2010, OSHA published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the hexavalent chromium standards to require the disclosure of all exposure determinations to affected employees, regardless of the level of exposure to hexavalent chromium detected.  OSHA also invited comments on that change.  Just one day after publishing the notice of proposed rulemaking, OSHA published a direct final rule containing the amended disclosure requirement while the comment period was still pending, a virtually unprecedented move.  This direct final rule will go into effect on June 15, 2010, unless OSHA receives significant adverse comments in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking.  For more information on this subject, please see the Kilpatrick Stockton Legal Alert on this development here.