The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) has announced changes in the Oregon Administrative Rules for short-term traffic control at worksites when signs, signals and barricades are used. The changes went into effect on January 31, 2003.

The changes apply to Division 2-N - Rules for Commercial and Industrial Vehicles, and Division 3-G - Signs, Signals and Barricades in the Oregon Administrative Rules which apply to general industry and construction.

New provisions to construction rules specify that the use of flaggers, warning garments worn by flaggers and barricades used to protect employees must meet current Federal Highway Administration standards.

The changes update the national standard being referenced in Oregon rules from a 1989 ANSI standard, to the December 2000 edition of the Federal Highway Administration Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Electronic copies of the MUTCD are available for downloading on the World Wide Web at http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno-millennium.htm. Employers who are following the most current edition of the Oregon Department of Transportation's "Short Term Traffic Control Handbook" will be considered to be in compliance with this requirement.

Additional information about the rule changes, and text of the adopted rule changes, is available on the Oregon OSHA Web site, www.orosha.org. For answers to questions about the standards, contact Oregon OSHA's Standards and Technical section at (503) 378-3272, or toll-free in Oregon, (800) 922-2689.