The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has clarified confusing language of their 2011 small farm exemption memo.
Under the newly drafted memo, OSHA cannot regulate family farms with 10 or fewer employees, consistent with current law, but now recognizes postharvest activities are integral to farming operations, including drying and storing grain, according to Feedstuffs.
The 2011 memo was instituted due to an increase of grain facilities and to ensure the safety of the people working in those facilities. The updated memo will exempt small farms, defined as 10 or fewer employees, who store its own grain on the farm or sells that grain from the farm.
Prior to the updated memo’s release, OSHA sought suggestions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Bureau, National Grain and Feed Association, National Council of Farm Cooperatives and other agricultural industry groups to help construct the memo with the concerns of farmers and ranchers.