OSHA Strategic Partnership Program<< Back to List of Current Partnerships

City of Buffalo Schools Project
#297
   
Partners: Louis P. Ciminelli Management Company; New York State Department of Labor; New York Onsite Consultation Program; Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council; AFL-CIO 
Date Signed: July 31, 2003; renewed June 1, 2006
Contact Information: Buffalo Area Office (716) 684-3891
Links: Partnership Agreement Amputation Emphasis Partnerships
Construction Industry Partnerships
Ergonomics Emphasis Partnerships
Lead Exposure Emphasis Partnerships
Silica and Related Disease Emphasis Partnerships
 
Partnership Overview:
This multi-faceted, large-scaled construction project involves the renovation and update of numerous public buildings. The partners will work together to reduce hazards and implement model contractor safety and health management systems impacting 200 contractors and perhaps as many as 700 employees.

Partnership Results:
Nearly 7000 hours of training were provided to employees. 3360 training hours were provided to supervisors and managers. Over 100 Safety and Health Management Systems were reviewed and/or developed. As we have completed our third year of the program, the program continues to raise safety awareness for contractors and their personnel. Contractor employees have met the OSHA 10/30 hour training requirements, specialty training and site specific training which has continued to demonstrate an increased level of safety awareness and the development of a safety culture.

Hazard recognition and ownership of their safety program in the field on a contractor personnel level is becoming more and more apparent. More time and detail is spent in pre-task planning and the contractors continue to utilize all available resources to plan their work tasks safely.

The Partnership continues to prove to be a huge value added to the overall reconstruction project and on many levels is helping, the project collectively continues to develop a heightened safety culture.

Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey
#661
Date Signed: March 7, 2008; renewed September 24, 2011
Contact Information: Parsippany Area Office (973) 263-1003
Links: Partnership Agreement Construction Industry Partnerships
 
Partnership Overview:
On March 7, 2008, OSHA and the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey (UTCANJ) signed a partnership agreement to develop a New Jersey statewide industry collaboration between the construction industry; labor; and government. The partnership will focus on improving worker safety and health in the New Jersey construction industry; and establishing an environment of cooperation among the participating organizations. The partnership will encourage New Jersey's contractors to improve their safety and health performance; assist them in their efforts; and recognize contractors with exemplary safety and health programs. The partnership will be available to all heavy-highway, marine, utility, and environmental remediation contracting firms that are members of the UTCANJ. Implementation of this agreement is expected to result in decreased serious injuries, illnesses, and fatalities for participating contractors and improvement of the participant's existing safety and health programs.

Partnership Goals:
Some of the goals of this partnership include:
  • Reduce by 4% annually, the number of injuries and fatalities affecting participant employers with an emphasis on reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from construction industry hazards
  • Decrease contractors' Experience Modifier Rate (EMR) and/or workers compensation costs from the time of application throughout the term of the partnership
  • Increase the implementation of effective contractor safety and health programs
  • Increase accessibility to quality safety and health training and education by providing OSHA 30-Hour training to all field supervisory employees of participating contractors and providing the OSHA 10-Hour Construction Safety & Health course to a minimum of 10% of all workers per year throughout the term of the partnership.
Partnership Results:
UTCANJ and OSHA have a history of cooperative efforts through Alliances and OSHA Strategic Partnerships dedicated to improving safety and health among contractors in New Jersey. UTCANJ and OSHA have worked cooperatively, with other agencies and organizations, to establish the nationally recognized New Jersey Highway Workzone and New Jersey Pilot Silica Partnerships. The UTCANJ continues to work cooperatively in the development of the New Jersey Silica Engineering Control Research Alliance, the first of its kind in the U.S.

Review of the data for the each of the three participating contractors from 2005 through 2007 does show TCIR and DART rates which were found to be significantly below the National Average for their industry classification (Highway and Bridge Construction – SIC 1611 or NAICS 237310). In fact, for the three contractors who participated, their TCIR rates were 100% below the national average (no recordable injuries for the 2005 through 2007 for all three contractors) of 5.9, and their three year average DART rates were found to be only 10% of the BLS national rate of 3.2, or 90% below the national Average.
 
Croton Water Treatment Facility
#675
Partners: General Contractors Association of New York, Inc.; Skanska/Tully JV, Inc.; and New York State Department of Labor, Division of Safety and Health On-site Consultation Program
Date Signed: June 5, 2008
Contact Information: Tarrytown Area Office (914) 524-7510
Links: Partnership Agreement Construction Industry Partnerships
 
Partnership Overview:
In an effort to eliminate serious hazards and achieve a high level of worker safety and health on the Croton Water Treatment Facility Project, Bronx, New York; OSHA and General Contractors Association of New York, Inc.; Skanska/Tully Joint Venture (JV), Inc.; and New York State Department of Labor, Division of Safety and Health On-site Consultation Program have signed a comprehensive safety and health partnership agreement. The partnership will focus in particular on construction industry hazards such as: falls, struck-by, electrocution, and caught-in between hazards.

The project involves the construction of a cast-in-place concrete building, steel-access platforms, fabrication and instillation of process mechanical equipment and piping system. The project is scheduled to be completed in April, 2012.

Founded in 1887, Skanska is a construction group with expertise in construction; development of commercial and residential projects; and public-private partnerships. Skanska is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden with about 60,000 employees active in selected home markets in Europe, the U.S. and Latin America.

Since 1909, the General Contractors Association of New York, Inc. has been providing its services to New York City's heavy construction contractors and engineers. The General Contractors Association was formed in 1909, when a group of construction companies banded together to help government agencies and private industry build for sustainable growth.

Partnership Goals:
Some of the goals of the partnership include:
  • A project DART rate that is 25% less than the national Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) average
  • Encouraging local construction subcontractors involved in the project to improve their safety and health performance.
Partnership Results:
The partnership is highly successful with respect to training. Between 2008-2009, 32 training sessions were conducted. Training topics included: Excavation Safety; Confined Space; Fall Protection; Electrical; Hazard Communication; Rigging; Stairs & Ladders; Lockout/Tag-out; and Scaffolds. Other Site safety training classes also included: Soft Tissue Injury Prevention; Aerial Lift Operator Training; Fire Prevention; First Aid/CPR; Hazard Awareness; Construction Plan Development and Auditing; Crane Hand Signaling Certification; and Flagger Safety/Certification.

In addition, 10,900 hours of training were conducted for 820 workers and 1,200 hours of training were conducted for 100 supervisors.

The partnership also is working to achieve its DART rate and TCIR rate goals. Skanska Tully JV’s TCIR three year rate of 3.19 is 40.8% lower than the 2007 BLS National TCIR Average for 2007 and it’s DART is 89.3% below the 2007 BLS National DART Average for SIC 1629 / NAICS 23493.
 
Skanska USA Civil Northeast / E.C.C.O. III Project
#693
   
Partners: Skanska USA Civil Northeast, Inc., New York State Department of Labor Division of Safety and Health On-Site Consultation Program, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Engineering Design and Construction, Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam Counties, Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, Inc., J.F. White and E.C.C.O. III Enterprises, Inc.
Date Signed: August 13, 2008
Contact Information: Tarrytown Area Office (914) 524-7510
Links: Partnership Agreement Construction Industry Partnerships
 
Partnership Overview:
In an effort to eliminate serious hazards and achieve a high level of worker safety and health on the Skanska USA Civil Northeast / E.C.C.O. III Project, Skanska USA Civil Northeast, Inc., New York State Department of Labor, Division of Safety and Health On-Site Consultation Program, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Engineering Design and Construction, Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam Counties, Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, Inc., J.F. White and E.C.C.O. III Enterprises, Inc. signed a strategic partnership on August 13, 2008. Through the agreement, the partnership will be referred to as the SEW Construction JV (Joint Venture). The partnership will focus in particular on construction industry hazards such as: falls, electrocution, caught-in/caught-between and struck-by.

The project consists of construction of the Catskill and Delaware Water Treatment Ultraviolet Light Disinfection Facility near Mount Pleasant and Greenburgh, New York. It is anticipated that the facility will be capable of disinfecting a maximum flow of 2,020 million gallons per day.

The project will involve construction of site structures, including all structural and architectural work and finishes, appurtenant equipment, furnishings, special construction, conveying equipment, piping, gates, valves, instrumentation and controls. In addition, the project will construct a generator building containing four emergency standby generators and water conveyances between the structures, including concrete encasement.

Partnership Goals:
Some of the goals of this partnership include:
  • Implementing strategies to eliminate serious accidents and fatalities, a project DART rate that is 25% less than the national average for Standard Industry Code 1642
  • Improving safety and health management systems
Partnership Results:
The partnership is working toward achieving some of its goals through training. For example, from 2008-2009, 189 training sessions were conducted. Training topics included: Excavation Safety; Confined Space; Fall Protection; Electrical; Hazard Communication; Rigging; Stairs & Ladders; Lockout/Tag-out; and Scaffolds. Other site safety training classes also included: Soft Tissue Injury Prevention; Aerial Lift Operator Training; Fire Prevention; First Aid/CPR; Hazard Awareness; Construction Plan Development and Auditing; Crane Hand Signaling Certification; and Flagger Safety/Certification. During this period, 270 workers and 52 supervisors received training.