Blog - Month: April 2025
OSHA Finalizes Rule Requiring Construction PPE to “Properly Fit’ All Workers
Fed-OSHA has finalized a new regulation that requires personal protective equipment for construction workers to be properly fitting.
The lack of access to properly fitting PPE for smaller-framed construction workers — especially women — has been a perennial problem, as ill-fitting gear may not protect employees adequately in case of an incident. The new standard explicitly states that PPE must fit properly to protect workers from workplace hazards.
Often, the industry has just purchased smaller gear for female workers, but that hasn’t worked well because women’s bodies have more variations in size and shape.
What the new standard says
While the new standard does not define what a “proper fit” is, OSHA, in its proposal of the standard, clarified that the phrase means “the PPE is the appropriate size to provide an employee with the necessary protection from hazards and does not create additional safety and health hazards arising from being either too small or too large.”
Under the new rule, construction employers will be required to provide PPE in various sizes and designs that accommodate a diverse workforce. It requires that they assess the fit of PPE for each worker individually. The fit must address different body shapes, proportions and size and applies to all types of PPE, such as:
- Hard hats
- Gloves
- Goggles and safety glasses
- Safety shoes
- Helmets
- Harnesses
- Coveralls
- Vests
- Respirators
- Hearing protection devices
- Boots
The rule applies to PPE that an employer provides to its workers, as well as PPE purchased directly by a worker for personal use.
Employers are also required to incorporate the importance of properly fitting PPE into their training regimens, including:
- Guiding workers on how to adjust the equipment,
- How to recognize when PPE is ill-fitting and
- How to request replacement gear if a worker’s PPE does not fit.
Record-keeping is also required. To comply, construction employers should maintain comprehensive records of their PPE compliance efforts, including documenting:
- PPE assessments,
- Inspections,
- Training sessions and
- Any instances where PPE was replaced or adjusted for proper fit.
The standard applies to all construction companies; there are no exceptions based on size.
Dangers of ill-fitting PPE
- Sleeves of protective clothing that are too long or gloves that do not fit properly may make it difficult to use tools or control equipment, putting other workers at risk of exposure to hazards.
- The legs of a protective garment that are too long could cause tripping hazards and affect others working near the wearer.
- A loose harness when working at elevations may not properly suppress a person’s fall and may get caught up in scaffolding and equipment.
- Goggles worn by an employee with a small face may leave gaps at the temples, allowing flying debris from a machine to enter the eyes.
- Gloves that are too large have a number of issues: the fingers are too long and too wide, the palm area is too big and the cuffs allow sawdust to fill the fingers. Someone wearing such ill-fitting gloves risks getting their fingers caught in machinery or pinched when stacking or carrying lumber.
The takeaway
Manufacturers already make PPE in various sizes, but finding properly fitting PPE for workers may be difficult.
Fortunately, The Center for Construction Research and Training has created a list of manufacturers and suppliers of PPE for female, nonbinary and transgender workers. It includes links to firms that focus specifically on women’s wear and the products they offer.
FAIR Plan increases Commercial Property Limits
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has approved a request by the FAIR Plan to increase commercial property coverage limits.
The move is aimed at ensuring that commercial facilities insured by the FAIR Plan are not underinsured, which can be devastating if they suffer a total loss.
Under the new limit, the FAIR Plan will create a new “high-value” commercial property coverage option for larger housing developments, farms and businesses with multiple buildings at one location.
The new limits will be up to $20 million per building, with a total maximum limit of $100 million per location — up from the current limit of $20 million per location. The FAIR Plan must make these new coverage limits available to all eligible applicants for both new and renewal policies before July 26, 2025.
The decision comes as commercial property rates continue rising due to inflationary pressures, particularly for companies in areas considered urban-wildland interfaces.
Insurers have pulled back on underwriting commercial properties as well as homes in the state due to increasingly destructive wildfires and their inability to get rate increase requests approved by the Department of Insurance.
Businesses located in wildfire-prone areas and those in smaller towns have found it increasingly difficult to secure coverage. If they are unable to secure coverage with a private insurer, their only option is the FAIR Plan.
FAIR Plan policies are not a complete replacement of a commercial property insurance policy. These are named peril policies, which provides coverage only for damage caused by the specific causes of loss listed in the policy:
- Fire
- Lightning
- Internal explosion
Optional coverages are available at an additional cost, such as for vandalism and malicious mischief.
Comparatively, typical commercial policies offer the following:
Basic form policies. They provide the least coverage, and usually cover damage caused by fire, windstorms, hail, lightning, explosions, smoke, vandalism, sprinkler leakage, aircraft and vehicle collisions, riots and civil commotion, sinkholes and volcanoes.
Broad form policies. These policies usually cover the causes of loss included in the basic form, as well as damage from leaking appliances, structural collapses, falling objects and the weight of ice, sleet or snow.
If you must go to the FAIR Plan, we can arrange for a “differences in conditions” policy that will cover the areas in which the plan is deficient compared to a commercial property policy.
The FAIR Plan will cover the following commercial structures:
Habitational buildings — Buildings with five or more habitational units, such as apartment buildings, hotels or motels.
Retail establishments — Shops such as boutiques, salons, bakeries and convenience stores.
Manufacturing — Companies that manufacture most types of products.
Office buildings — Offices for professionals such as design firms, doctors, lawyers, architects, consultants or other office-based functions.
Buildings under construction — Residential and commercial buildings under construction from the ground up.
Farms and wineries — Basic property insurance for commercial farms, wineries and ranches, not including coverage for crops and livestock.
A final word
The higher limits will come as a relief to many businesses in California whose properties’ replacement costs far exceeded the FAIR Plan limits. That said, premiums remain high under the FAIR Plan.
Besides the FAIR Plan, there is another option if you can’t find coverage. We can try to find coverage in the “non-admitted” market, which consists of global insurance giants like Lloyd’s of London.
These entities are not licensed in California, but they can still cover properties in the state, which we can access through a surplus lines broker.
Treasury Dept Suspends Beneficial Ownership Reporting Rule
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it will not enforce a law requiring most businesses with fewer than 20 employees and less than $5 million in annual revenue to report ownership and control information to the federal government every year.
The Corporate Transparency Act required firms to file this information by Jan. 1, 2025, under the threat of a maximum civil penalty of $500 per day (up to $10,000) and up to two years in prison.
The Treasury Department said that it would not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule on any companies that missed the Jan. 1 deadline. As well, it will not enforce penalties going forward for companies that fail to file their BOI report.
While the Trump administration cannot repeal the CTA, it is instead opting not to enforce it and plans to introduce new regulations that would essentially eliminate enforcement of the law for U.S. businesses.
The act explained
The CTA aimed to crack down on fraud, money laundering and terrorism funding that can run through anonymous business entities.
Under the act, businesses with 20 workers and less than $5 million in revenue were required to file reports identifying their “beneficial owners,” defined as individuals who own or control 25% or more of the equity interest of a company or who exercise “substantial control over its management or operations.”
There were some exemptions to the reporting requirement, including stock brokerages, banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies, accounting firms, public agencies and non-profits.
It’s estimated that the law affected some 32 million small businesses .
What’s next
The Treasury Department will issue a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only. A “foreign reporting company” refers to any entity formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in any state or tribal jurisdiction.
Legal experts recommend that affected companies which have not yet filed an initial, updated or corrected report may consider waiting to file a BOI report until new guidance is issued by the Treasury Department, as no penalties or fines will be enforced for failing to file reports for now.
The department’s action may face legal challenges, or the present or a subsequent administration could restore the reporting requirements as the law remains on the books.