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Partnership - An OSHA Cooperative Program

Occupational Safety and Health Administration DIMEO

PARTNERSHIP

COMPREHENSIVE SAFETY AND HEALTH PARTNERING AGREEMENT

BETWEEN

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
PROVIDENCE AREA OFFICE

AND

RHODE ISLAND 21(d) CONSULTATION PROGRAM

AND

DIMEO CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

  1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

    Dimeo Construction Company and the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Providence Area Office (PAO) and the Rhode Island 21(d) Consultation Program (RICP), mutually recognize the importance of ensuring a safe and healthful work environment in the construction industry in the State of Rhode Island. To advance this mutual goal, the Partnership between Dimeo Construction Company, the PAO and the RICP 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 Partnership would provide training and education to forty one subcontractors. Workers in these trades are exposed to the four recognized hazards within the construction industry; falls, electrocution/electrical shock, struck-by and caught-in-between. Many of these subcontractors lack the sufficient resources to conduct training. The purpose of this Partnership is provide training in recognizing the four hazards listed above, to develop methods in controlling and/or eliminating those hazards; identify predictors of unsafe acts and conditions; build and re-enforce a culture of safety and health within the workplace.

    This Partnership, which has been developed for the Dimeo Construction Company for reconstruction of the Ocean House hotel (the Project) located in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, will be limited to the Dimeo Construction Company and its subcontractors that are working on that site. Dimeo Construction Company will request subcontractors to join the Partnership at the time they start working on the site. The subcontractors will be identified on the addendum attached to this Partnership. The Partnership will provide benefits to Dimeo Construction Company and its subcontractors, which include, among others, special recognition from OSHA and priority in compliance assistance programs.

    The Project consists of the new construction/replication of the 120,495 square foot hotel. The South Wing of the building will precisely replicate the original building which dates back to 1908. In addition, there will be a 31,928 foot internal, underground parking garage. The 80 million dollar Project is scheduled for completion on or about June 2010.

     
  2. PARTNERS

    The following are identified as partners:
    1. U.S. Department of Labor-OSHA, PAO
    2. Rhode Island 21(d) Consultation Program
    3. Dimeo Construction Company
    4. Subcontractors working at the site

       
  3. 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) Limit the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities to less than the national incident rate for residential construction. With an emphasis on reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from falls, struck-by, caught-in-between, electrocution and trenching.
 		 a) Dimeo Construction Company will establish a system to collect and analyze injury and illness trends (including near-miss incidents) by all subcontractors performing work at the site. 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 Dimeo Construction Company or any third party.

iii. Number of hazards identified and corrected.
3) Allow OSHA and RICP to focus resources on companies that require attention from OSHA, rather than on companies that have demonstrated existence of effective safety programs.
RICP safety and health resources available to Dimeo Construction Company, and its subcontractors on site.

 		 a) Dimeo Construction Company 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:
  1. Include employee involvement.
     
  2. Include effective employee training for avoidance of hazards specific to the company's work site.
     
  3. Provide construction site supervisors and foremen (including supervisors and foremen of subcontractors) 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. If resources allow, train supervisory personnel to OSHA’s 30-hour Construction Safety Course.
b) Require all subcontractors 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.

iii. Number of “Tool Box/Tailgate” talks.

iv. Percent of workers trained to the 10 and 30 hour levels.
5) 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 subcontractors working with/for the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) participants.

6) Foster open and continuing communication between the partners.
 		 a) Dimeo Construction Company 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 the Dimeo Construction Company Safety Director (or his designee) and any third party. The report will be broken down into the four major categories of construction-focused 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
7) Share knowledge of the best practices.

8) Offer support by the partners for subcontractors and compliance officers’ training. Dimeo Construction Company will establish a training goal for each year of participation in the Partnership.
 		 a) Dimeo Construction Company will conduct and document weekly safety training/tool box talks 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 and RICP.

  1. EVALUATION

    An annual evaluation of this Partnership will be conducted within sixty (60) days 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 Dimeo Construction Company to gather required participant data to evaluate and track overall results and success of the Partnership.

    After the first year of the partnership, subsequent evaluations are to be conducted within thirty (30) days of the anniversary of the signing.

     
  2. BENEFITS

    In good standing, Dimeo Construction Company will receive the following benefits from OSHA:
    1. Special recognition, which may include but is not limited to, press releases issued by OSHA and recognition on OSHA’s web page designating the Dimeo Construction Company as a participant in the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP).
    2. Availability of informational materials such as safety and health publications and electronic tools.
    3. 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. Agreement project site within the next twelve (12) months.
    4. Priority status to Dimeo Construction Company and subcontractors for compliance assistance and outreach activities, including the OSHA 10- Hour Construction Course, as resources allow.
    5. If cited, Dimeo Construction Company and 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) where Dimeo Construction Company, 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 site, per standard Agency procedures.

     
  3. VERIFICATION PROCEDURES
    1. 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.
       
    2. OSHA worksite observations should be sufficient to confirm the partner’s worksite is operating a safety and health management system that adequately ensures the protection of employees. During such visits, if OSHA personnel identify serious hazards that site management refuses to correct, OSHA will make a referral for an enforcement inspection.
       
    3. 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 Dimeo Construction Company meets the requirement of the Focused Inspection Initiative.
       
    4. 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 Dimeo Construction Company,
      • 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, and
      • 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.
    5. Dimeo Construction Company and the Rhode Island 21(d) Consultation Program will coordinate a consultation visit of the worksite after the enforcement verification inspection has been completed by the PAO.
       
  4. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

    A Partnership Management Team (PMT) with members from Dimeo Construction Company, OSHA and RICP 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 controlling the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities has been met. Dimeo Construction Company and PAO are responsible for collecting baseline and annual performance data upon which the OSPP will be measured. Dimeo Construction Company, 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.

     
  5. 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.

    Dimeo Construction Company retains all rights guaranteed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), including the right to appeal or contest citations issued by OSHA.

     
  6. TERM

    This agreement will terminate two years from the day of signing. If either OSHA or Dimeo Construction Company 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.

     
  7. SIGNATORIES

    Signed this 23rd day of December, 2008


     



    8.  
    Marthe B. Kent
    Regional Administrator
    Occupational Safety and
    Health Administration


     
    Bradford Dimeo
    President
    Dimeo Construction Company



     
    Patrick Griffin
    Area Director
    Providence Area Office


     
    Stephen Rutledge
    COO/Executive Vice President
    Dimeo Construction Company



     
    James A. Bruckshaw
    Project Manager
    Rhode Island 21(d)
    Consultation Program


     
    Bob Kunz
    Corporate Safety Director
    Dimeo Construction Company