On January 12, 2004, as part of the OSHA and American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) Alliance, several Federal OSHA and Maryland State Plan OSHA representatives toured the Rinker Materials - Hydro Conduit Concrete Pipe Plant in Frederick, Maryland. The Plant produces various sizes of pipe and box culverts that are used in the sewer and drainage industries. Pipe constructed at the Rinker facility ranges in size from one foot to in excess of twelve feet in diameter.

OSHA signed an Alliance with ACPA on October 3, 2003. The OSHA and ACPA Alliance encourages OSHA and ACPA to work together to reduce and prevent exposure to confined space hazards by developing, implementing, or improving confined space programs. ACPA members include 40 companies, including Rinker Materials, that represent a total of 250 concrete plants that produce primarily concrete pipes.

During the tour, Rinker highlighted a number of the plant’s safety and health features including marked pedestrian zones for visitors, automatic shutoffs and visitor controls that require non-plant personnel to enter the facility away from plant traffic. In addition, the group saw a pipe pit, the area located beneath pipe-forming machinery. The pit provided a good example of how a confined space program can be developed and implemented for an specific industry hazard.

Participants in the tour included: Paula White, Director, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs, OSHA; Keith Goddard, Commissioner for the Division of Labor and Industry in the State of Maryland; Cheryl Kammerman, Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Labor and Industry in the State of Maryland; Lee Anne Jillings, Director, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, OSHA and Jess McCluer, Program Analyst, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, OSHA.