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Region I > #620 Partnership Agreement |
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PARTNERSHIP
COMPREHENSIVE SAFETY AND HEALTH PARTNERING AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
SPRINGFIELD AREA OFFICE
AND
BARR & BARR BUILDERS, INCORPORATED |
I. PURPOSE AND SCOPE
Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated and the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA), Springfield Area Office (SAO) mutually recognize the importance of
ensuring a safe and healthful work environment in the construction industry in the State of
Massachusetts. To advance this mutual goal, the partnership between Barr & Barr Builders,
Incorporated and the SAO has been established to formalize a cooperative effort between these
entities, committed to encouraging companies to improve their safety and health performance
voluntarily, providing methods to assist them in their efforts, and recognizing companies with
exemplary safety and health programs.
This partnering agreement, which has been developed for Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated for the
Williams College North & South Academic Buildings Project located at Chapin Hall Drive,
Williamstown, MA (“the Project”), will be limited to the Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated and
specialty or sub-contractors at the site. Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated will request specialty
or subcontractors to join the partnership at the time they start working on the site. The
partnership will provide benefits to Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated and the specialty or
subcontractors, which include, among others, special recognition from OSHA and priority in
compliance assistance programs.
The Project consists of two four-story buildings with a total of 100,000 square feet of classroom
and office space. The buildings will consist of structural steel frames, masonry block and brick
exteriors, with curtain walls and pitched copper roofs. The expected completion date for the two
buildings is September 2008.
Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated, retains all rights guaranteed under the Occupational Safety and
Health Act (OSH Act), including the right to appeal or contest citations issued by OSHA.
II. PARTNERS
The following are identified as partners:
- U.S. Department of Labor-OSHA, SAO.
- Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated.
III. GOALS / STRATEGIES / MEASURES
| GOALS |
STRATEGIES |
MEASURES |
1) Reduce workforce fatalities, serious injuries, and
illnesses and provide a safe work environment for employees at the Project
2) Reduce by 5% annually the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities affecting participating
employers, with an emphasis on reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from falls, struck-by,
caught-in/between, electrocution and trenching.
3) Decrease worker compensation costs and the number of OSHA citations for this Project within
SAO’s jurisdiction. |
a) Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated will establish
a system to collect and analyze injury and illness trends (including near-miss incidents) by all
contractors performing work at the Project. This data will be used as a tool for continual safety
and health program improvement. |
i. OSHA’s 300 injury and illness data.
ii. Number of site inspections performed at the site by Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated, or any
third party.
iii. Number of hazards identified and corrected.
iv. Comparison of workers compensation costs before and after the completion of of the Project. |
4) Allow OSHA to focus resources on companies that
require attention from OSHA, rather than on companies that have demonstrated existence of
effective safety programs.
5) Make OSHA safety and health resources available to Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated, and its
specialty or sub-contractors on site, as resources allow. |
a) Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated will develop and implement a comprehensive safety and health
program that adheres to, or exceeds, both the OSHA Safety and Health Program Management
Guidelines. The comprehensive written safety and health program will, at a minimum:
- Include employee involvement.
- Include effective employee training for avoidance of hazards specific to the Project.
- Provide construction site supervisors and foremen (including supervisors and foremen of
specialty or trade contractors) and all employees with the OSHA's 10-hour Construction Safety
Course to be able to recognize work hazards and have the authority to take prompt action.
- Require 100% fall protection for all activities above six (6) feet.
b) Require all specialty or sub-contractors’ onsite to work toward implementing a “zero tolerance”
safety practice in order to help achieve the desired reduction of worksite incidents.
c) Designate a competent person at the worksite. |
i. Number and type of training conducted.
ii. Number of employees trained. |
6) Result in improved safety and health programs, a
higher level of employee safety and health training, and as a secondary benefit, improved job site
safety and health program commitments by other specialty or sub- contractors working with/for the
OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) participants.
7) Foster open and continuing communication between the partners. |
a) Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated will conduct
and document weekly safety training at the worksite.
b) Compile injury and illness data on a quarterly basis to assist with tracking industry trends
and establishing an industry baseline.
c) Compile a summary of the number of inspections made by Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated
Safety Director (or their designee) and any third party. The report will be broken down into the
four major categories of construction-focused hazards (falls, electrical, struck by and crushed by
hazards), and will show the number of items within the four (4) categories that were corrected.
d) Have designated personnel conduct documented safety inspections. These personnel will have the
authority to take prompt corrective action.
e) Set a positive example for desired safety behavior and establish goals and accountability for
safety excellence. |
See Above |
| 8) Share knowledge of the best practices. |
a) Conduct and document weekly safety training at the
worksite.
b) Compile injury and illness data on a quarterly basis to assist with tracking industry trends
and establishing an industry baseline. |
i. Number and type of training conducted for
supervisors
ii. Percentage of employees trained by OSHA. |
IV. EVALUATION
An annual evaluation of this partnership will be conducted within thirty (30) days of the first
anniversary of the signing of the agreement. The Appendix C of the Directive CSP [03-02-002], "OSHA
Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health," will be used to provide pertinent
information needed to assess the partnership.
It will be the responsibility of Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated to gather required participant
data to evaluate and track overall results and success of the partnership.
V. BENEFITS
In good standing, Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated will receive the following benefits from OSHA:
- Special recognition, which may include but is not limited to, press releases issued by OSHA and
recognition on OSHA’s web page designating the Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated as a participant
in the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP).
- Availability of informational materials such as safety and health publications and electronic
tools.
- Following the necessary onsite enforcement inspection(s) conducted to meet OSPP verification
requirements, it will not be necessary to conduct a programmed inspection at the Project t.
Agreement project site within the next ten (10) months.
- Priority status to Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated. and specialty or subcontractors for
compliance assistance and outreach activities, including the OSHA 10- Hour Construction Course, as
resources allow.
- If cited, Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated and specialty or subcontractors that join in the
partnership may be provided an additional 10% reduction for good faith beyond the reductions
provided in the Field Inspection Reference Manual (FIRM) whereby Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated,
in implementing this OSPP, has taken specific steps beyond those provided in the FIRM, to implement
the Act. This additional reduction will not apply to high gravity serious, willful, failure to abate
or repeat citations.
Although certain benefits described above may modify OSHA enforcement procedures,
OSHA personnel will continue to investigate workplace complaints, referrals, fatalities, catastrophes,
and other significant accidents or events at the Project, per standard Agency procedures.
VI. VERIFICATION PROCEDURES
- To determine contractor compliance with the terms of the agreement, an on-site comprehensive
enforcement verification inspection will be conducted within thirty (30) days from the signing of
the partnership agreement. Citations and penalties may be issued, when appropriate, as a result of
this inspection. Enforcement verification inspections are performed in accordance with the
applicable sections of the OSHA FIRM, and other enforcement guidance documents.
- If additional inspections are necessary they will be conducted in accordance with the FIRM and
other applicable enforcement documents. A focused inspection, concentrating on the project safety
and health program/plan, and the four leading hazards in construction: falls, electrical hazards,
caught in/between hazards, and struck by hazards may be performed where upon initial inspection of
the site the CSHO determines that the contractor meets the requirement of the Focused Inspection
Initiative.
- The Area Director will determine the number of inspections necessary based upon the following
guidelines:
- the number of inspections needed to cover all the types of work performed by the employer,
- the quality of the safety and health management system evidenced during the initial verification,
- the number and nature of citations and penalties issued to the employer in the three years prior
to the partnership application
- the phases of construction and the nature of the hazards associated with such work
- the geographic scope of the partnership
- other factors which OSHA determines may affect its ability to fully and accurately assess the
effectiveness of the participant’s safety and health management system.
VII. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
A Partnership Management Team (PMT) with members from Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated and OSHA
will oversee and coordinate this partnership. The team will determine partnership procedures, which
will include measures to be used and data to be collected, hold conference calls, and meet at least
annually to evaluate the effectiveness of the agreement.
Once the baseline is established, during the annual evaluation it will be determined whether the
annual goal of a 5% reduction in the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities has been met.
Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated and SAO are responsible for collecting baseline and annual
performance data upon which the OSPP will be measured. Barr & Barr Builders, Incorporated aggregate
injury and illness incidence rates (total case rates) and fatality rates will be compared with the
most current BLS published data to determine whether goals have been met.
VIII. EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
This partnership does not preclude employees and/or employers from exercising any right provided
under the OSH Act (or, for federal employees, 29 CFR 1960), nor does it abrogate any responsibility
to comply with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act.
IX. TERM
This agreement will terminate one (1) year from the day of signing. If either OSHA or Barr & Barr
Builders, Incorporated, wishes to withdraw their participation prior to the established termination
date, the agreement will terminate upon receiving a written notice of the intent to withdraw from
either signatory.
XI. SIGNATORIES
Signed this 29 day of November, 2007
Mary Hoye
Area Director
Springfield Area Office |
Donald Barr
President
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
John Benzinger
Vice President
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
Jason Miner
Project Manager
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
Jim LaCasse
Project Manager
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
Rick Luttazi
Superintendent
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
Ryan Houseman
Superintendent
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
James V. Manoli
Safety Director
Barr & Barr, Inc. |
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