The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld OSHA's multi-employer citation policy in a reversal of a decision the Commission made during the previous administration. Under the policy, OSHA inspectors may cite employers on multi-employer worksites for violations that do not expose their own workers to occupational hazards. For example, a general contractor who controls the worksite may be responsible for violations created by a subcontractor whose workers are exposed to safety or health hazards. In reaching its Aug. 19 decision,* the Commission agreed with an earlier decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had rejected the Commission's previous contrary view that employers are only legally responsible for protecting the safety and health of their own workers. The case under consideration involved Summit Contractors Inc., a general contractor constructing an apartment complex in Lebanon, Pa., in 2005. An OSHA compliance officer cited Summit for a safety violation after observing workers of a subcontractor using electrical equipment that lacked ground fault circuit interrupters and which had been brought onto the worksite by Summit.

For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.

On August 31, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration published interim final rules that will help protect workers who voice safety, health, and security concerns. The regulations, which establish procedures for handling worker retaliation complaints, allow filing by phone as well as in writing and filing in languages other than English.  To view the complete rule click here.  The regulations, which cover workers filing complaints in the railroad, public transit, commercial motor carrier, and consumer product industries, also create greater consistency among various OSHA complaint procedures. The interim final rules establish procedures and time frames for handling complaints under the whistleblower sections of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. 

These regulations are effective immediately. Comments must be submitted by Nov. 1, 2010, and can be sent to www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or by mail or fax.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 18 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various commercial motor carrier, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, railroad, public transportation, securities, and health care reform laws.  New fact sheets on these statutes and additional information will be available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.

In 1998, OSHA's expert Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) established a workgroup to develop recommended changes to the current standard for cranes and derricks. In December 1999, ACCSH recommended that the Agency use negotiated rulemaking to develop the rule. The Cranes and Derricks Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (C-DAC) was convened in July 2003 and reached consensus on its draft document in July 2004. In 2006, ACCSH recommended that OSHA use the C-DAC consensus document as a basis for OSHA's proposed rule, which was published in 2008. Public hearings were held in March 2009, and the public comment period on those proceedings closed in June 2009. Details on the changes to the final rule from the proposed rule are available here.

The following is a list of the main changes in the new rule; which becomes effective 90 days after August 9, 2010, the date the final rule will be published in the Federal Register:  Certain provisions have delayed effective dates ranging from 1 to 4 years.

• This new standard will comprehensively address key hazards related to cranes and derricks on construction worksites, including the four main causes of worker death and injury: electrocution, crushed by parts of the equipment, struck-by the equipment/load, and falls.
• Significant requirements in this new rule include: a pre-erection inspection of tower crane parts; use of synthetic slings in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions during assembly/disassembly work; assessment of ground conditions; qualification or certification of crane operators; and procedures for working in the vicinity of power lines.
• OSHA expects the final standard to prevent 22 fatalities and 175 non-fatal injuries each year.
• Several provisions have been modified from the proposed rule. For example: Employers must comply with local and state operator licensing requirements which meet the minimum criteria specified in § 1926.1427.
• Employers must pay for certification or qualification of their currently    uncertified or unqualified operators.
• Written certification tests may be administered in any language understood by the operator candidate.
• When employers with employees qualified for power transmission and distribution are working in accordance with the power transmission and distribution standard (§ 1910.269), that employer will be considered in compliance with this final rule's requirements for working around power lines.
• Employers must use a qualified rigger for rigging operations during assembly/disassembly.
• Employers must perform a pre-erection inspection of tower cranes.
• This final rule requires operators of most types of cranes to be qualified or certified under one of the options set forth in § 1926.1427. Employers have up to four years to ensure that their operators are qualified or certified, unless they are operating in a state or city that has operator requirements.
• If a city or state has its own licensing or certification program, OSHA mandates compliance with that city or state's requirements only if they meet the minimum criteria set forth in this rule at § 1926.1427.
• The certification requirements in the final rule are designed to work in conjunction with state and local laws.
• This final rule clarifies that employers must pay for all training required by the final rule and for certification of equipment operators employed as of the effective date of the rule
• State Plans must issue job safety and health standards that are "at least as effective as" comparable federal standards within six months of federal issuance. State Plans also have the option to promulgate more stringent standards or standards covering hazards not addressed by federal standards.
• OSHA will have additional compliance assistance material available within the next month.

For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.

Department of Labor Publishes Final Rule Regulating Cranes and Derricks in Construction

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued on July 28, 2010, a new rule addressing the use of cranes and derricks in construction.  Approximately 267,000 construction, crane rental and crane certification establishments employing about 4.8 million workers will be affected by the final rule.

Since OSHA announced its decision to establish a Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC) under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act (NRA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) in 2003, AGC participated on the C-DAC Committee and commented extensively on the proposed rule. AGC's comments centered on crane operator qualification and certification, as well as the scope, definitions, fall protection, inspections, and assembly/disassembly requirements of the rule. AGC also held a series of conference calls with members and chapters to review and solicit comments on the proposal.

The previous rule, which dated back to 1971, was based on 40-year-old standards. The new rule is designed to prevent the leading causes of fatalities, including electrocution, crushed-by/struck-by hazards during assembly/disassembly, collapse and overturn.  It also sets requirements for ground conditions and crane operator assessment.  In addition, the rule addresses tower crane hazards, addresses the use of synthetic slings for assembly/disassembly work, and clarifies the scope of the regulation by providing both a functional description and a list of examples for the equipment that is covered.

The new rule will take effect on Nov. 8, 2010.

To view AGC's comments on the proposed regulations, visit http://www.agc.org/cs/crane_derricks_in_construction

The complete rule is available at http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-17818_PI.pdf. 

The regulation text is available at http://www.osha.gov/cranes-derricks/index.html. 

For additional information, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.

House Committee Passes OSHA Bill
 

On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee passed the Miner Safety and Health Act.  This bill seeks to make significant changes to both MSHA and OSHA. The vote was 30-17, with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans opposed.  AGC is a strong advocate of worker safety but is concerned about the direction of the bill. The legislation turns the clock back on well over 10 years of progress in improved workplace safety, which has lead to a nearly 50 percent reduction in the construction fatality rate, by creating a more adversarial relationship between employers and OSHA.

The bill does nothing to help facilitate worker safety on a site or help businesses, especially small businesses, improve their worksite safety. Instead, the House proposal focuses solely on introducing vague new standards for criminal liability and imposes complicated and costly procedures for adjudicating whistleblower cases. This legislation is ultimately a punitive measure, and does not promote injury prevention. This approach fails to take into account the construction industry's successful accident prevention strategies that have resulted in reducing workplace injury, illness and fatality rates through the successful efforts of business and government working together. Instead it will hamper continued construction industry safety improvements through increased litigation and discouragement of cooperative relationships.

Supporters of the bill are pushing to have a vote on the House floor next week, though the final schedule has not been released. The Senate is taking a slower approach on the bill and it is uncertain as to when a hearing might be scheduled.

Please click hereto send a letter to your Representative and Senators about your concerns with this legislation.

For more information, contact Kelly Knott at (202) 547-4685 or knottk@agc.org.

H.R. 5663, The Miner Safety and Health Act of 2010, was recently introduced in response to the tragic mine accident in West Virginia. However, the legislation also seeks to make drastic changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by turning back the clock on well over 15 years of progress in improved workplace safety and creating a more adversarial relationship between employers and OSHA. The bill focuses solely on introducing vague new standards for criminal liability and imposes complicated and costly procedures for adjudicating whistleblower cases.

H.R. 5663 should be opposed for the following reasons:
• Workplace injury, illness and fatality rates are at all time lows thanks to the 15-year long bipartisan approach to workplace safety started by the Clinton Administration. H.R. 5663 will hamper continued construction industry safety improvements through increased litigation and discouragement of cooperative relationships.
• Most companies are in fact not "bad actors." This legislation would create vague new standards for criminal conduct and establish new penalties that will likely lead to more costly litigation.
• The legislation would allow OSHA inspectors to order a work stoppage at a jobsite without showing imminent danger or affording employers with proper due process.
• H.R. 5663 creates a new and unnecessarily complex whistleblower paradigm.

Action Needed:
Please take a minute and use the tools on the AGC Legislative Action Center to write your elected officials in opposition to H.R. 5663.

 House Committee Passes OSHA Bill
On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee passed the Miner Safety and Health Act.  This bill seeks to make significant changes to both MSHA and OSHA. The vote was 30-17, with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans opposed.  AGC is a strong advocate of worker safety but is concerned about the direction of the bill. The legislation turns the clock back on well over 10 years of progress in improved workplace safety, which has lead to a nearly 50 percent reduction in the construction fatality rate, by creating a more adversarial relationship between employers and OSHA.  

 The bill does nothing to help facilitate worker safety on a site or help businesses, especially small businesses, improve their worksite safety. Instead, the House proposal focuses solely on introducing vague new standards for criminal liability and imposes complicated and costly procedures for adjudicating whistleblower cases. This legislation is ultimately a punitive measure, and does not promote injury prevention. This approach fails to take into account the construction industry's successful accident prevention strategies that have resulted in reducing workplace injury, illness and fatality rates through the successful efforts of business and government working together. Instead it will hamper continued construction industry safety improvements through increased litigation and discouragement of cooperative relationships.

Supporters of the bill are pushing to have a vote on the House floor next week, though the final schedule has not been released. The Senate is taking a slower approach on the bill and it is uncertain as to when a hearing might be scheduled.

Please click hereto send a letter to your Representative and Senators about your concerns with this legislation.

For more information, contact Kelly Knott at (202) 547-4685 or knottk@agc.org.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has scheduled two additional stakeholder meetings, one in Washington, D.C., and one in Sacramento, Calif., to solicit comments in developing the Injury and Illness Prevention Program proposed rule. These additional meetings are part of a series of five.

The stakeholder meetings are informal discussions to provide OSHA with the necessary information to develop a rule that will help employers reduce workplace injuries and illnesses through a systematic process proactively addressing workplace safety and health hazards.

"With this proposal, we will be asking employers to find and fix the hazards in their workplaces," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. "This common sense rule will help make the secretary of labor's vision of 'good jobs for everyone' a reality."

More information on OSHA's Injury and Illness Prevention Program is available in a May 2010 Federal Register notice at http://s.dol.gov/35.

Two meetings already have been conducted in East Brunswick, N.J., and Dallas, Texas. Registration for a third meeting in Washington, D.C., to be held June 29 has reached full capacity. To allow more stakeholders to provide input, OSHA has scheduled another Washington meeting for July 20 and the Sacramento meeting for Aug. 3. All meetings will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time.  AGC will be represented by Kevin Cannon at the June 29 meeting.

Anyone interested in participating in the newly added meetings should submit a notice of intent to participate through https://www2.ergweb.com/projects/conferences/osha/register-osha-I2P2.htm. Submissions also can be mailed to Eastern Research Group Inc., 110 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421, Attention: OSHA I2P2 Stakeholder Meeting Registration. Or fax submissions to 781-674-2906 labeled "Attention: OSHA I2P2 Stakeholder Meeting Registration."

Submission deadlines for confirmed registration are July 6 for the Washington meeting and July 20 for the Sacramento meeting. After these deadlines, registration will remain open until the meetings are full.

For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon, Director Safety & Health Services at cannonk@agc.org.

WASHINGTON – OSHA announced today that the Severe Violators Enforcement Program directive is effective June 18^th. The agency announced in April that it was implementing the program to focus on employers who continually disregard their legal obligations to protect their workers.

OSHA’s SVEP focuses enforcement efforts on employers who willfully and repeatedly endanger workers by exposing them to serious hazards. The directive establishes procedures and enforcement actions for the severe violator program, including increased inspections, such as mandatory follow-up inspections of a workplace found in violation and inspections of other worksites of the same company where similar hazards or deficiencies may be present.

The directive explains that the SVEP is intended to focus enforcement efforts on employers who have demonstrated recalcitrance or indifference to their OSH Act obligations by committing willful, repeated or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe situation; in industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards; exposing workers to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals; and all egregious enforcement actions.

Visit the Severe Violator Enforcement Program directive for more details.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

OSHA is confirming the effective date of June 15, 2010 for the direct final rule requiring employers to notify their workers of all hexavalent chromium exposures. The rule revises a provision in OSHA's Hexavalent Chromium standard that required workers be notified only when they experienced exposures exceeding the permissible exposure limit. Workers exposed to this toxic chemical are at greater risk for lung cancer and damage to the nose, throat and respiratory tract.

Occupational exposures to hexavalent chromium can occur among workers handling pigments, spray paints and coatings containing chromates, operating chrome plating baths, and welding or cutting metals containing chromium, such as stainless steel. Workers breathing hexavalent chromium compounds in high concentrations over extended periods of time may risk developing lung cancer, irritation or damage to the eyes and skin.

OSHA requested public comments on the revised requirement in a March 17, 2010, Direct Final Rule and accompanying Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. This was done in response to a Third Circuit Court's decision that the agency failed to explain why it departed from the proposed rule that would require notifying workers of all hexavalent chromium exposures. The Agency received no significant adverse comments, therefore it is proceeding with the Direct Final Rule and withdrawing the accompanying Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

Visit OSHA's Safety and Health Topics page on Hexavalent Chromium for more information on protecting workers from exposure to this chemical.