OSHA Strategic Partnership Program<< Back to Region III

  1. Scope/Background

    To facilitate OSHA’s goal of reducing occupationally related fatalities by 3% each year, and reducing the total Rate of Days Away from Work by 4% each year, Region III of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) and Balfour Beatty / Smoot, a Joint Venture, hereinafter referred to as Balfour Beatty / Smoot have agreed to the joint implementation of the partnership during construction of the National Gallery of Art, East building existing stone repairs project.

    The goal of this program is to develop a contractor/government partnership that will encourage construction contractors to improve their safety and health performance, assist them in doing that, strive for the elimination of serious accidents in the construction industry, and recognize those contractors with exemplary safety and health programs.

    This agreement between Balfour Beatty / Smoot and OSHA is expected to result in decreased serious injuries and illnesses and fatalities for the site and improve existing safety and health programs.It provides incentives to construction contractors that voluntarily participate in the strategic partnership and demonstrate implementation of effective safety and health programs. This agreement will not in any way affect employees’ ability to exercise rights under the OSH Act and OSHA regulations, including walk-around rights.

    The parties to this agreement recognize that it does not include any exemption from OSHA inspections or penalties. However, the contractors expect that OSHA will acknowledge superior performance by providing timely responses to requests for information and requests for clarification of OSHA standards.

    Therefore, OSHA and Balfour Beatty / Smoot are entering into this partnership to foster a safe and healthful workplace for employees by having joint cooperation as prescribed within the terms and conditions set forth in this agreement.

  2. Identification of Partners

    The primary participants in this Partnership are,

    1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Baltimore/Washington Area Office OSHA
    2. Balfour Beatty / Smoot, a Joint Venture
  3.  Project Overview

    Over the life of the project (approximately 36 months), contractors will employ approximately 100 individual construction tradespersons at peak construction.

    The Project entails removing more than 17,000 Tennessee Pink Marble façade stones, reworking the floating anchorage system, refurbishing the stones as necessary and replacing the stones. Nothing may be attached to the face of the building, which will require creative engineering systems for work scaffold support and access to the roof. Unique methods, including a complex, roof parapet mounted rail system will be used to facilitate most of the removal and replacement hoisting. Mast climbing and suspended scaffolds will provide worker access to the façade. 

  4. Goals, Strategies, Measures

    The partnership’s goal is to reduce injuries and illnesses and fatalities through a cooperative relationship between Balfour Beatty / Smoot and OSHA.  This goal will be accomplished by implementing and following the plan outlined below and evaluating these actions as indicated:

    1. Develop, implement and maintain effective and comprehensive safety and health programs in accordance with OSHA’s 1989 Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines or its equivalent.
      Balfour Beatty / Smoot agrees to complete a self-audit and an evaluation of subcontractors’ safety and health programs using Appendix B (or equivalent) at the outset of the partnership; and

      OSHA will evaluate all contractors’ safety and health programs prior to and during the OSHA verification inspection using Appendix B (or equivalent) and will observe whether the safety and health management systems in place are adequately protecting employees.
    2. Balfour Beatty / Smoot should achieve participant recordable illness and injury rates below the national average for the construction industry.  A partnership goal is to keep the DART rate (cases with days away from work, job-transfer, or restriction) below the national average for the most recent year published for NAICS1 23, which is 2.3 for the year 2009. Although the work is building related, the general “Construction” DART rate was selected as being more appropriate than the “Construction of buildings” because of the challenging nature of the Project and the lack of finish trades which historically have lower incident rates.  The partnership goal is to further reduce this level of recordable injuries annually by an annual average of at least 4% for the duration of the partnership.
      Balfour Beatty / Smoot will identify and correct primary causal factors in worker injuries and illnesses; and

      Balfour Beatty / Smoot will establish systems to identify and correct accidents and nears misses; and

      OSHA will meet at least quarterly with Balfour Beatty / Smoot to examine the injury and illness experience of the partnership’s participants and to make corrections and adjustments as needed.

      Balfour Beatty / Smoot DART rates and injury and illness experience will be evaluated through review of the OSHA 300 log and any other relevant accident reports.
  5. Statement of Agreement

    OSHA agrees to:

    1. Help identify programmatic needs at this site by reviewing the documented safety and health management system and providing practical guidance for implementation.  The review will be performed by the project Safety and Health Manager and a Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO).
    2. Help identify, through the review of OSHA 300 logs, accident or near miss reports, primary causal factors in injuries and illnesses, in particular the top four hazards at this site, and recommend the appropriate corrective actions.
    3. Provide information on training resources including available OSHA Training Institute courses and information on other available sources of training.
    4. Assist partners in accessing OSHA interpretations and clarifications as to the meaning and application of OSHA standards and policy.
    5. Participate in training sessions and meetings as resources permit.
    6. Designate an experienced safety and health specialist to serve as a resource and liaison person for the partnership.
    7. Meet with Balfour Beatty / Smoot quarterly to review partnership issues and to examine updated DART rates and the focus four injury and illness experiences of Balfour Beatty / Smoot and its contractors at this site.  OSHA shall provide feedback on any noted incident trends and patterns.
    Balfour Beatty / Smoot agrees to:

    1. Serve as a safety resource in support of all of the project’s contractors and subcontractors.
    2. Provide notice to all contractors and subcontractors that are subject to this strategic partnership with OSHA.  All employees will be informed of the partnership and provided a fact sheet during orientation.  (Appendix A).
    3. Administer the overall partnership program including, but not limited to, the initial contact and evaluation of subcontractor applications to determine whether the subcontractor meets the criteria specified within this partnership initiative under Section VI, Contractor Eligibility.
    4. Notify the Baltimore/Washington Area Office OSHA on a regular and recurring basis of the names of subcontractors that have met the partnership criteria and the status of those who have not.
    5. Maintain a dedicated competent Site Safety and Health Coordinator available to assist contractors and subcontractors with all safety and health issues.
    6. Act as liaison for contractors with OSHA. 
    7. Offer on-going information on safety or health topics of importance for contractors, especially on the focus four construction hazards.
    8. Provide OSHA's interpretations of standards as well as local issues so that contractors may better understand and properly comply with standards.
    9. Maintain a site injury and illness log of all injuries and illnesses reported by all contractors and tier subcontractors.
    10. Meet with OSHA quarterly to examine the injury and illness of the    partnership’s participants and to address as needed.
    11. Manage the following site safety or health issues common to all areas of the site, and be accessible to all contractors and subcontractors to reduce the potential for injury or illness in accordance with this partnership agreement:
      • emergency action plan;
      • hazard communication plan and inventory of site chemicals reported by contractors and tier subcontractors;
      • general fall protection including perimeter guardrails;
      • personal protective equipment, including  equipment specified by NFPA 70 E, where applicable.
    Balfour Beatty / Smoot and its subcontractors agree to:

    1. Apply all relevant components of their respective comprehensive safety and health programs. These programs shall include:


      1. Analysis of all new and acquired work, materials, chemicals, and equipment before construction activity begins to determine potential hazards and to plan for their prevention or control.
      2. Routine examination and analysis of hazards associated with individual jobs, processes, and phases of construction.
      3. Routine self-inspections and hazard abatement.
      4. A system for project workers to notify management, without fear of retaliation, about conditions that appear hazardous.
      5. A system for investigating accidents and near-misses, including procedures for guidance, reports of findings and the tracking of hazard correction to completion.
      6. A system to analyze trends through a review of site injury and illness data, and the hazards identified through inspections so that patterns of common causes can be identified and eliminated.
    2. To comply with all current OSHA standards.
    3. To implement a 6 foot fall protection policy.
    4. To have supervisors provide visible leadership in implementing the safety and health program. This includes:


      1. Supervisors establishing clear lines of communication with project workers.
      2. Supervisors setting an example of safe and healthful behavior.
      3. Supervisors creating an environment that allows project workers access to their top management and for contractor management to have access to the prime contractor’s management.
    5. To report all site injuries and illnesses to Balfour Beatty / Smoot           immediately so that the site injury and illness log may be accurately maintained.
    6. To report all program deficiencies or damage to protective equipment, specifically site fall protection, immediately upon discovery to Balfour Beatty / Smoot and to take appropriate interim protective measures for protection of their employees.
    7. Contractors and subcontractors will submit to Balfour Beatty / Smoot at least quarterly, records of their site recordable injury and illness rates, days away from work rates, restricted workdays, and the contractor’s OSHA history.
    8. All contractors will have a competent person on site that is responsible for oversight of and compliance with the Project Safety & Health Program.     
    9. Contractors must complete a successful assessment of their site safety and health program. This assessment shall consider:


      1. the comprehensiveness of the program
      2. the degree to which it has been implemented
      3. the presence of competent persons as required by relevant standards
      4. the means by which the program is enforced
    10. Verify that a comprehensive written safety and health program exists or that it will be implemented prior to starting work, which is at least equivalent to the criteria referenced herein, including the contractor’s or subcontractor’s implementation of policies and procedures to ensure that safety rules and procedures are enforced at the site.
    11. Certify that their policy and procedures hold supervisors and workers accountable for following established safety and health rules and OSHA regulations.
    12. Ensure that employee training covers applicable site hazards and the means to correct them, as well as pertinent standards and regulations.  Provide appropriate safety information and training to non-English speaking employees in their native language.
    13.  Strive to ensure that within one year after obtaining acceptance into this partnership program that a designated safety representative or other person serving in the capacity as a competent person on the project will have completed the OSHA 10-hour course for the construction industry (or its equivalent).
    14. Provide safety related data or statistics, as requested, concerning such issues as man-hours worked, lost work day injuries, accident records and OSHA inspection results. Balfour Beatty / Smoot will provide a summary of and analysis of pertinent safety and health related information for review by the Baltimore/Washington Area Office OSHA.  The purpose of such summary information will assist in preparing an annual report necessary for the evaluating the merits of the program and making recommendations for continuous improvement.
  6. Contractor Eligibility

    Subcontractors wishing to take advantage of this opportunity to partner with OSHA must:

    1. Sign a letter of agreement with Balfour Beatty / Smoot indicating their intent to participate in this partnership initiative and to take steps to adopt into their safety program all of the provisions of the partnership agreement. (Appendix C)
    2. Verify that a comprehensive written safety and health program exists or will be implemented within 30 days of signing which is based on the OSHA 1989 Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines (or their equivalent), and has site specific safety plans for this work site.
    3. Certify that their policy and procedures hold supervisors and workers accountable for established safety rules and OSHA regulations.
    4. Provide the level of training required by OSHA regulations to their workers either through their own training personnel or other consultants or trainers.
    5. Strive to ensure that as soon as possible, but not longer than one year after obtaining acceptance into this partnership program, supervisory personnel or other personnel serving in the capacity of competent person will have completed the OSHA 10-hour course for the construction industry (or its equivalent). Records of training certification will be provided to Balfour Beatty / Smoot and made available for review.
    6. Provide periodic safety-related statistics (man hours worked, lost workday injuries, accident records and OSHA inspection results). Balfour Beatty / Smoot is to provide a summary and analysis for review by Baltimore/Washington Area Office OSHA to track the progress of the strategic partnership in meeting its goals to reduce injury and illness rates and to prepare an annual report to evaluate the merits of the partnership.
  7. On-Site Verification Inspection and Benefits

    1. Verification

      In order to assist in measuring the success of this partnership, a non enforcement verification inspection consisting of a review of the written program elements outlined herein by a Compliance Officer and a focused inspection of site construction hazards by a Compliance Safety and Health Officer will be conducted after the signing of this agreement, and annually thereafter. The timing of the inspection will be intended to evaluate employee exposure to the four focused hazards:  falls, struck-by, caught-in, and electrocution.  After the initial verification inspection, annual inspections will focus on the most serious hazards that have been previously identified pursuant to the procedure herein. 

      The top causes of injuries and illnesses will be determined by all parties prior to and during the initial OSHA verification inspection, and may be adjusted based on experience.  Additionally, corrections will be identified by all parties and   implemented by Balfour Beatty / Smoot.  Injury and illness incidence in targeted areas   will be evaluated through the OSHA 300 log and any other relevant accident reports.

      OSHA will meet with Balfour Beatty / Smoot quarterly to review partnership issues and to examine updated DART rates and the injury and illness experience of its contractors at this site. OSHA shall provide feedback on any noted incident trends and patterns.

    2. Benefits

      Subcontractors, if participating in this partnership, will be granted a twelve-month inspection deferral from programmed inspections, following a successful onsite verification inspection.

      OSHA will not issue penalties to participating contractors for other-than-serious violations, provided the violations are immediately abated.  OSHA reserves the right to issue penalties for regulatory violations for which mandatory penalties are established pursuant to the policy set forth in the Field Operations Manual (FOM).
  8. OSHA Inspections

    1. Complaint Investigations

      This partnership provides for the immediate response to each allegation of a safety or health hazard brought to its attention by any person. Upon a finding that an allegation is valid, the employer shall promptly abate the hazard. OSHA agrees that a copy of each non-formal complaint related to the work at the site and filed with OSHA will be forwarded by fax or mail to the site office. In accordance with applicable law, the identity of a complainant requesting confidentiality will not be revealed. Balfour Beatty / Smoot agrees to investigate these complaints, regardless of the employer involved and provide OSHA with a written response as follows:
      - Non-formal complaints/referrals alleging a hazard: 24 hours
      Failure to meet this time frame, or providing a response determined by OSHA to be inadequate, will place the complaint/referral outside the scope of this partnership and OSHA will respond as it would to any complaint of a similar nature.

    2. Other Investigations

      OSHA personnel will continue to conduct inspections, such as but not limited to, under local and national emphasis programs, workplace complaints, referrals, fatalities, catastrophes, and other accidents or significant events, and will investigate contractors whose employees are exposed to or are creating plain view hazards at partnering worksites.  These inspections will be conducted outside of this partnership agreement in accordance with established OSHA enforcement policy.  Violations documented during such investigations may result in the issuance of citations and penalties.
  9. Employee Rights

    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 OSH Act.

  10. Leveraging

    This partnership seeks to leverage the resources of Balfour Beatty / Smoot and OSHA by encouraging contractors to develop safety and health programs, implement them in an effective manner, complete self inspections, and evaluate worksite conditions and near misses to prevent accidents.  By combining resources, OSHA expects to have a greater and more positive impact on safe working conditions at this site than could be achieved otherwise.

  11. Evaluation

    A joint evaluation of the partnership will be prepared annually by the partners. The evaluation will review the success of the partnership, lessons learned, and changes that will be made to meet the goals of the partnership.

  12. Termination

    This agreement will terminate, three years from the date of the signing or upon completion of the project.  If any signatory of this agreement wishes to withdraw their participation prior to the established termination date, written notice of the intent to withdraw must be provided to all other signatories.

    OSHA will terminate the partnership if the participating employer is issued a citation related to workplace hazards which resulted in a fatality.

  13. Paper Reduction Act:

    Paper Reduction Act Notice Form Approved MB# 1218-0244 Expires 06-20-2-12 Public reporting burden for the time needed to develop the Partnership requirements, craft agreement language, and conduct an internal review process is to be an average of 11 burden hours per respondent.

  14. OSHA Primary Contact

    Brett Beall

    Baltimore / Washington Area Office

     

    (410) 865-2055

    Signature Page

    Strategic Partnership Agreement between OSHA
    and Balfour Beatty / Smoot, a Joint Venture


    All undersigned Parties mutually agree to the terms and conditions of this document, and commencement of this Partnership Agreement this day of___________.

     

    _________________________________________________________
    Michael Walterschied - Area Director   
    Baltimore/ Washington Area Office
    US DOL OSHA

     

    _________________________________________________________
    David Laib- Sr. Vice President
    Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC
    Balfour Beatty / Smoot, a Joint Venture



    _________________________________________________________
    Mark Cain - President
    Smoot Construction
    Balfour Beatty / Smoot, a Joint Venture



    _________________________________________________________
    Bryan Daniels – Superintendent/Safety & Health Manager
    Smoot Construction
    Balfour Beatty / Smoot, a Joint Venture



    _________________________________________________________
    Charles E Bird, CSP, CHST – Safety Director
    Washington Division
    Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC



    _________________________________________________________
    Angelo Giannakos - Corporate Safety Director
    Smoot Construction

    APPENDIX A

    Partnership Fact Sheet


    A strategic partnership agreement has been developed jointly by the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Baltimore/Washington Area Office (“OSHA”), and Balfour Beatty / Smoot.  The common objective and goal of the program is to develop a contractor/government partnership that encourages all construction contractors to improve their safety and health performance, assist them in doing that, strive for the elimination of serious accidents in the construction industry, and to recognize those contractors with exemplary safety and health programs.  The specific impetus behind the agreement is to provide a safe and healthful work environment for workers engaged in construction activities for the project.

    Expected outcomes of this partnership include: developing criteria for a model multi-employer worksite safety and health program which specifically identifies the responsibilities of each subcontractor; making safety and health materials available to all subcontractors onsite; planning for safety and health in all aspects of the project; providing visible safety and health leadership; achieving participant recordable illness and injury rates below the national average for the construction industry; and focusing OSHA enforcement activity on those contractors and subcontractors who have little or no regard for the safety and health of their workers.

    This agreement is consistent with OSHA’s long-range effort to develop a contractor/government partnership approach to safety management.  It allows for better use of OSHA resources and for innovation in safety management, and it encourages more participation in the safety process by each stakeholder. 



    ____________________________________             
    Area Director

    ____________________________________
    Area Director




    ____________________________________



    		  
    Appendix B

    Safety and Health Program Evaluation

    1. Contractor has implemented a comprehensive written safety and health program based on ANSI A10.38-1991 or the OSHA 1989 Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines, and has site specific safety plans for all of the contractor’s work sites.
    2. Contractor maintains a copy of its specialty contractor’s safety and health plan, hazard communication plan, and fall protection plan (where applicable) or contractor requires specialty contractor to follow participant’s plan.
    3. Contractor has designated safety personnel at each site who conduct documented safety inspections of all work on the contractor’s projects, and through training and experience, can recognize hazards and have authority to take prompt corrective action. Training equivalent to the OSHA 10-Hour Construction Outreach Course is satisfactory. 
    4. Contractor has trained all field supervisory personnel and has provided additional training for competent persons in such areas as scaffolding, excavation, fall protection, crane operations, etc. (This additional training will be dictated by the type and scope of the work the contractor routinely conducts).
    5. Contractor provides a safety and health program orientation for all new employees and trains employees for hazard recognition specific to the contractor’s work sites.
    6. Contractor has evidence of employee involvement including, but not limited to, participation in self-audits, site inspections, job hazard analyses, safety and health program reviews, safety training and mishap investigations.
    7. Contractor conducts and documents weekly employee safety meetings.
    8. Contractor conducts and documents self-audits.
    9. Contractor uses a six-foot fall protection policy.
    10. Contractor has a written enforcement program.
    Appendix C

    Letter of Intent to participate

    Safety Partnership


    Name of Subcontractor: __________________________________________
    Subcontractor Site Representative: __________________________________
    Anticipated Number of Workers: ___________________________________

    We have read the requirements to participate in

    Safety Partnership and agree with all aspects of the program, including the submission of the required information.  Specifically, we recognize the need to meet the following requirements:

    1. Establishment of a written safety and health program including the following elements: management leadership, worker involvement, worksite analysis, hazard prevention and control, and safety and health training.
    2. Compliance with all current OSHA standards.
    3. Provision of visible leadership by supervisors in implementing the safety and health program including, but not limited to, having a representative complete the OSHA 10 hour construction training program.
    4. Planning for safety and health as part of the overall management planning process, including appropriate job hazard analyses.
    5. Establishment and communication of all safety and health program responsibilities to all project workers.
    6. Evaluation of safety and health programs at least annually.
    7. Reporting all site injuries and illnesses so that a site log may be maintained.
    8. Reporting all deficiencies or damage to site wide programs or protective measures, specifically site fall protection, immediately upon discovery and taking appropriate interim protective measures for protection of their employees.
    We understand the agreement provides incentives to participating subcontractors who undertake these actions to voluntarily improve their safety and health performance.  Incentives will include special recognition from OSHA, focused enforcement efforts by OSHA and consideration for additional good faith penalty reductions.

    Based upon the mutual interest to protect construction workers on the National Gallery of Art
    East Building Existing Stone Repairs Project, we agree to the terms of the OSHA Partnering Agreement.

    Signed this 1st day of September 2011

    1NAICS refers to the North American Industry Classification System which has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System.