OSHA – Page 4 – Concrete Products

OSHA pandemic response plan draws lines on illness reporting, culpability

June 2, 2020 Concrete News

An interim enforcement response plan for the coronavirus pandemic provides guidance to Occupational Safety and Health Administration Area Offices plus compliance safety and health officers (CSHO) for handling Covid-19 disease-related complaints, referrals or severe illness reports. The plan contains what OSHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt calls “commonsense procedures for investigating complaints related to the coronavirus while also ensuring the safety of workers, employers, and inspectors.”

OSHA outlines pandemic response enforcement plan measures

April 14, 2020 Concrete News

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

An interim enforcement response plan for the coronavirus pandemic provides guidance to Occupational Safety and Health Administration Area Offices plus compliance safety and health officers (CSHO) for handling coronavirus-related complaints, referrals or severe illness reports. Effectively immediately, it contains what OSHA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt calls “commonsense procedures for investigating complaints related to the coronavirus while also ensuring the safety of workers, employers, and inspectors.”

Whistleblowing-driver prevails in claims against fleet owner

March 2, 2020 Concrete News

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA is testing Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) whistleblower protection provisions by ordering a defunct Connecticut motor carrier and its co-owner to pay more than $150,000 in backpay, fines and attorney’s fees to settle a complaint surrounding management practices and trucking regulations compliance. Investigators found that the carrier retaliated against a driver who voiced concerns about faulty vehicle maintenance, including missing or inoperative headlights and air pressure leaks, and a directive to violate Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours of service regulations.

‘Protecting the Workforce’ campaign guides OSHA to 50th anniversary

January 24, 2020 Concrete News

Sources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; CP staff

OSHA will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 with a yearlong celebration of past achievements, current efforts and future initiatives to protect the American workforce. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 29, 1970, the OSH Act was created “to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women,” laying the groundwork for creation of OSHA the following spring.

Masonry, mortar tasks spur discussion of OSHA silica rule revisions

December 19, 2019 Concrete News

The 26-member Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) has formally requested the Occupational Safety and Health Administration revise the Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica – Specified Exposure Control Methods standard (silica rule), thereby expanding compliance options and recognizing sub-threshold dust levels typical of masonry sawing and mortar mixing.

OSHA inspection, compliance assistance levels climb

December 5, 2019 Concrete News

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Final fiscal year 2019 statistics show a significant increase in the number of OSHA inspections and a record amount of compliance assistance to further the mission of ensuring that employers provide workplaces free of hazards. Enforcement activities reflect the Department of Labor’s continued focus on worker safety, agency officials note: Federal OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections, more inspections than the previous three years, addressing violations related to trenching, falls, chemical exposure, silica and other hazards.

ABC underscores leading safety indicators for OSHA audience

November 18, 2019 Concrete News

Source: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.

Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President of Health, Safety, Environment and Workforce Development Greg Sizemore emphasized proactive measures to prevent workplace hazards and reduce recordable incidents at a public, Occupational Safety and Health Administration-hosted meeting in the nation’s capital. The early-November gathering was part of a new OSHA initiative to develop leading indicator tools for safety and health performance in high-hazard industries, and create a repository of resources for companies, industry groups and other organizations.

Masonry, mortar tasks frame case for OSHA silica rule revisions

October 22, 2019 Concrete News

Sources: Construction Industry Safety Coalition, Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

Prestress Services challenges OSHA silica, respiratory exposure claims

October 14, 2019 Concrete News

Sources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; CP staff

Prestress Services Industries LLC (PSI), Columbus, Ohio-based producer of architectural or structural precast for building and transportation markets, will contest Occupational Safety and Health Administration-proposed penalties of $158,500 before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA revisits principal reference in silica standard for construction

August 20, 2019 Concrete News

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

OSHA is soliciting industry perspective and comments on Table 1 of the agency’s Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction through October 14. Officials seek information on a) additional engineering and work practice control methods to effectively limit exposure to silica for listed equipment and tasks; and, b) other silica-generating construction equipment and tasks that the agency should consider adding to the table.