MPSA SAVANNAH MACHINERY WORKS PROJECT – BALANCE
BUNKER & BAY 5
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

BETWEEN

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
SAVANNAH AREA OFFICE

AND

The Georgia Tech Research Institute's Occupational Safety
and Health Programs Office

AND

H.J. HIGH/BATSON-COOK Joint Venture

1. PURPOSE/SCOPE
   
   This Partnership was developed jointly by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Georgia Tech Research Institute Onsite Safety and Health Consultation Program (Georgia Tech Research Institute) and H.J. High/Batson-Cook Joint Venture (Batson-Cook) in accordance with OSHA Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health Directive CSP 03-02-002. This Partnership has the following common goals: to reduce injuries and illnesses; increase safety and health training; share best work practices; and increase the number and quality of employer safety and health management systems. This Partnership is consistent with OSHA's long-range efforts to develop a contractor/government partnership approach to safety management. It allows for better use of OSHA resources and it encourages innovation in safety management, as well as more participation in the safety process from the construction community.
   
   To facilitate the goal of reducing occupational related fatalities and serious injuries within the construction industry, OSHA, Georgia Tech Research Institute, and Batson-Cook will implement a Partnership under the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP). This Partnership will cover the construction of the MPSA Savannah Machinery Works located in Pooler, GA. The project has been ongoing for 2 years under the old OSHA Partnership Agreement format and has approximately one year until completion. The remaining construction consists of the completion of the Balance Bunker, which houses a large vacuum chamber and associated testing equipment, and Bay 5 which is additional machinery manufacturing space. The Balance Bunker will be completed by December 2012 and Bay 5 by March 2013. No further construction is currently planned.
   
   By combining its efforts, skills, knowledge and resources, OSHA, Batson-Cook and Georgia Tech Research Institute expect to reduce exposure to hazards and thereby decrease the possibility of serious injuries and fatalities at the MPSA Savannah Machinery Works Project.
   
   
2. IDENTIFICATION OF PARTNERS
   
   The partners in this agreement will include:
   
   
   • OSHA - Savannah Area Office (OSHA)
     
     
   • H.J. High/Batson-Cook Joint Venture (Batson-Cook)
     
     
   • Georgia Tech Research Institute Onsite Safety and Health Consultation Program (Georgia Tech Research Institute)
3. GOALS AND MEASUREMENTS
   
   The primary objective of this Partnership is to create a working relationship that focuses on preventing work-related fatalities, controlling or eliminating serious workplace hazards, and establishing a foundation for the development of an effective safety and health program. The goals employed to achieve these results will include the following:
   
   

   GOAL	STRATEGIES	MEASURES
   A reduction in the site’s incident rate of 10% below the BLS rate for the industry, with the ultimate goal of zero OSHA recordable incidents.	a) Every worker on site will complete a daily job hazard analysis/pre-task analysis. b) Aggressively promote safety awareness through orientation, training, safety committee, site audits, signage, employee contact and recognition, etc.	This goal shall be measured from contract signing through final completion date. Baseline will be based on the current BLS data for the industry.
   Control workplace hazards by increasing the number of construction companies with effective safety and health management systems.	a) Georgia Tech to evaluate the safety and health management systems of all contractors and identify areas for increasing effectiveness.	This measure will consist of a qualitative assessment of the improvements made in contractors’ safety and health management systems as a result of participating in the Partnership.
   Increase the number of workers on site that are provided with effective safety and health training, such as the OSHA 10 hr. or 30 hr course.	Provide all workers access to OSHA 10 hr/30 hr. training in multiple formats to facilitate their participation. OSHA and/or GTRI to conduct/assist with training.	Measure the number of workers provided with OSHA 10 hr/30 hr training through the partnership.
   Continually improve safety and health at the worksite by ensuring that best practices are shared with all subcontractors.	a) OSHA will conduct annual onsite enforcement verification inspections. b) Batson-Cook will conduct daily inspections/audits identifying and correcting serious hazards and make best practice recommendation.	Measured by monitoring the number and type of items identified during the verification inspections compared to earlier visits

   
   
4. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION
   
   
   1. Batson-Cook will:
      
      
      1. Establish a jobsite safety committee, consisting of a representative of all contractors on site, that will focus on the elements of a comprehensive safety and health management system, which includes:
         
         
         1. Management commitment and employee involvement;
            
            
         2. Hazard analysis;
            
            
         3. Hazard control; and
            
            
         4. Arrangement of training assistance for all site workers.
            
      2. Ensure employee involvement by establishing an employee safety committee that will meet on a monthly basis to share the results of jobsite inspections, information concerning accidents and near misses, suggestions for improvement and recommendations for training for the general workforce. Management and supervisors will also continue to discuss near misses and daily safety audits during toolbox talks.
         
         
      3. Mentor subcontractors in safety and health management systems. Subcontractors shall include all multi-tiered subs that arrive for work on the site.
         
         
      4. Where the potential for airborne silica exposure exists, require the use of wet cutting, or soft cutting techniques and/or dust collection system, and when needed, the mandatory use of approved respiratory protection.
         
         
      5. Have the authority to enforce safety rules and regulations. This authority will include provisions to hold contractors and employees accountable and, if necessary, remove contractor employees, supervision from the job site.
         
         
      6. Ensure that a risk assessment is performed as part of the safety planning process by a competent person on all fall hazards. The probability and severity of occurrence for each identified hazard will be evaluated to eliminate or reduce the risk through engineering or administrative controls to a level as low as possible.
         
         
         1. Critical risk will not be tolerated. No work will be performed until action is taken to reduce the level of risk to as low as reasonably feasible.
            
            
         2. No monitor system will be allowed.
            
            
         3. Workers on the face of formwork or reinforcing steel must be protected from falling by personal fall arrest systems, with the use of a positioning device, and/or lanyards.
            
      7. Serious ergonomic hazards will be identified and corrected.
         
         
      8. Ensure that ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCI) are used to protect all electrical circuits that are installed for work. All contractors will ensure that employees are protected by the use of a GFCI at all times.
         
         
      9. The Site Safety Director for Batson-Cook will serve as a point of contact for site related issues and monitor daily safety and health at the site. The Batson-Cook Safety Director will serve as a point of contact for general partnership related issues.
         
         
      10. Batson-Cook’s Superintendent and Site Safety Director will ensure that daily Safety Audits are conducted (since this is a multi-employer worksite and all workers are to work together on safety issues). Batson-Cook will periodically review subcontractor’s safety records, note any hazards found, and then review them with all committee members at the weekly coordination/Subcontractor meeting.
          
          
      11. Conduct and document job site safety meetings/toolbox talks on a weekly basis.
          
          
      12. Submit monthly accident reports to the partners, including first aid, injury, property damage and any near misses reported.
          
          
      13. Coordinate and conduct a comprehensive site audit at least monthly led by Batson-Cook’s Site Safety Director. Safety Committee and Subcontractor Members will participate in the site safety audit of their work areas. If non-compliant activity or hazards are discovered, immediate correction is required. Batson-Cook will document the corrective action taken and share this information with OSHA and the Georgia Tech during the quarterly update meetings.
          
          
      14. Continually audit the Partnership’s effectiveness and make recommendation for improvement.
          
          
      15. Share the results of jobsite inspections and information concerning near misses with all workers.
          
          
      16. Ensure that no employees are allowed to work directly below a suspended load except for employees engaged in the initial connection of steel and employees necessary for hooking or unhooking the load. The following criteria must be met when employees are allowed to work under the load: materials being hoisted shall be rigged to prevent unintentional displacement; hooks with self-closing safety latches or their equivalent shall be used to prevent components from slipping out of the hook; all loads shall be rigged by a qualified rigger. Appropriate use of tag lines will be utilized to prevent work below suspended loads.
          
          
      17. Require the use of appropriate personal protective equipment including, but limited to hard hats, high visibility vest and eye protection. Hardhats are mandatory. All employees shall wear high visibility vests or clothing. The site safety plan incorporates a 100 percent eye protection program.
          
          
      18. Ensure that all safety related signs and warnings will be posted in English and Spanish, as well as any other appropriate languages.
          
          
      19. Require 100 percent fall protection for all work performed 6 feet or more above lower levels.
          
   2. Subcontractors will:
      
      
      1. Appoint a representative to the site Safety Committee responsible for resolving job safety matters and serving as a liaison to Batson-Cook’s Superintendent. Every prime subcontractor will have a person available to participate in the safety committee.
         
         
      2. Conduct jobsite safety inspections for those employees under their control. This will be in addition to the daily general site safety inspections. If non-compliant activity or hazards are discovered, immediate correction is required. Documentation of abatement methods and verification must be submitted to Batson-Cook’s Site Safety Director.
         
         
      3. Participate in the weekly/bi-monthly Subcontractor coordination meetings during which safety issues are discussed. Information will be shared on hazards noted, safety concerns for upcoming activities, as well as other safety related topics.
         
         
      4. Share the results of jobsite inspections with all workers by posting them on the Safety Bulletin Board.
         
   3. OSHA will:
      
      
      1. Participate, to the extent resources permit, in the periodic Partnership Committee/Subcontractor meetings, but will not participate in the walk around inspection, except that the verification visits may be scheduled as part of periodic walk around inspections.
         
         
      2. Serve as a resource and liaison for Partnership participants and also assist with safety and health training, as resources permit.
         
         
      3. Give priority to the construction project when technical assistance is needed.
         
         
      4. Audit the monthly reports/documents and make recommendations for improvements in the meeting Partnership goals.
         
         
      5. Conduct inspections in accordance with section VIII of this Partnership.
         
         
      6. Conduct the annual evaluation report in accordance with section VI of this Partnership.
         
   4. Georgia Tech Research Institute will:
      
      
      1. Participate, to the extent resources permit, in quarterly site consultation visits.
         
         
      2. Serve as a resource and liaison for partnership participants and also assist with safety and health training, as resources permit.
         
         
      3. Give priority consideration to requests for services to small contractors who are engaged in work at the project.
         
5. SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
   
   Batson-Cook will use its system to collect and analyze injury and illness trends by all contractors performing work at the site. This data will be used as a tool to ensure continual safety and health improvement at the site. The management of this partnership will be accomplished by Batson-Cook implementing a comprehensive jobsite safety and health management system which includes:
   
   
   1. Pre-task safety planning procedures, including risk assessment, will be conducted daily prior to exposing employees to potential safety and health hazards. This will be accomplished by the use of the Batson-Cook Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) card.
      
      
   2. Work with OSHA, Georgia Tech Research Institute and committee members to assess any potential exposure to hazardous substances currently under OSHA emphasis programs. Assistance in evaluating such hazards may be requested from Georgia Tech Research Institute and/or insurance company personnel as necessary.
      
      
   3. Daily audits will be performed by all contractors on site. In addition, all contractors’ operations will receive a comprehensive audit at least monthly, to include documentation, and will be scored using an audit spreadsheet. Any hazards found during the audits will be corrected promptly. Items noted on the audit will be annotated on a daily log. When hazards cannot be corrected immediately they will be tracked until abatement is completed. Employees exposed to these hazardous conditions will be informed of the hazard and an effective interim control measures will be implemented. A record will be kept of all hazards found during the comprehensive audits and the number of hazards corrected as a result.
      
      
   4. Implement an aggressive Fall Protection Plan to include fall protection in all cases where work is being preformed 6 feet or more above lower surfaces.
      
      
   5. Ensure employees receive training as follows:
      
      
      1. All employees will receive a site-specific construction safety orientation covering jobsite safety and health issues, procedures relative to the work being performed, as well as general information about the Partnership. In addition, employees shall receive training on the JHA card and risk assessment. This material will be provided by Batson-Cook to the Subcontractor’s designated safety representative for completion.
         
         
      2. All employees will receive a site-specific construction safety orientation covering jobsite safety and health issues, procedures relative to the work being performed, as well as general information about the Partnership. In addition, employees shall receive training on the JHA card and risk assessment. This material will be provided by Batson-Cook to the Subcontractor’s designated safety representative for completion.
         
         
      3. Safety and health training will be provided to all workers in a language they understand. Bi-lingual instruction will be verified by Batson-Cook to ensure that all workers are effectively trained.
         
         
      4. Other hazard-specific training will be conducted on an as-needed basis.
         
         
      5. Subcontractors can utilize other instructors as long as they can show a valid certification card showing completion of the course. Batson-Cook will have primary responsibility for providing this training; however, as resources allow Georgia Tech Research Institute will also provide assistance. Batson-Cook plans to hold 10-hr Safety Training Sessions approximately every 4 months to help train all personnel as schedule allows.
         
   6. Subcontractors with written safety and health management systems must submit them to Batson-Cook for evaluation. Companies without safety and health management systems may adopt Batson-Cook’s, or develop an adequate safety and health management system with the assistance of the Georgia Tech Research Institute.
      
      
   7. Ensure health-related issues which occur during the course of the project are adequately addressed by Batson-Cook and/or the affected subcontractors, with the assistance of OSHA as its resources permit and Georgia Tech Research Institute. Any health-related issues will be discussed monthly during the partnership meetings. This includes the establishment of effective hearing conservation and environmental monitoring programs.
      
      
   8. Ensure compliance with the NFPA 70E when working on live electrical equipment, including training and the availability and use of personal protective equipment. A permit system will be implemented whenever work around live electrical systems will be done to ensure the implementation of appropriate protective measures prior to exposure. The permit form includes requirements for pre-task review and lock out/tag out procedures to be followed.
      
      
   9. Ensure all equipment capable of amputations is adequately guarded.
      
      
   10. Batson-Cook will explore the possibilities of extending training opportunities to Mitsubishi personnel and area contractors based on relevance of topics and availability of space.
       
6. ANNUAL EVALUATION
   
   The program will be evaluated on an annual basis through the use of the Strategic Partnership Annual Evaluation Format as specified in Appendix C of OSHA Instruction CSP 03-02-002, OSHA Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health.
   
   It will be the responsibility of Batson-Cook’s Contractors to gather required participant data to evaluate and track the overall results and success of the Partnership program. This data will be shared with OSHA. It will be the responsibility of OSHA to write and submit the annual evaluation.
   
   
7. BENEFITS
   
   Participant benefits from OSHA may include:
   
   
   1. Maximum penalty reductions allowed in the OSHA Field Operations Manual (FOM) for good faith and history.
      
      
   2. In the event that a citation with penalty is issued the Area Director has the authority to negotiate the amount of the penalty reduction as part of the informal conference settlement agreement.
      
      
   3. Priority Consultation service and assistance for small employers working on the construction site from the Consultation program.
      
8. OSHA INSPECTIONS AND VERIFICATION
   
   
   1. Onsite Enforcement Verification Inspections: OSHA will conduct the initial onsite enforcement verification inspection no sooner than three months, but within four months after Partnership participants formally enter into this agreement. During this period participants should develop and implement the safety and health management systems required under this agreement. After this period, OSHA will conduct the initial onsite enforcement verification inspection and annually thereafter. The onsite enforcement verification inspection will be conducted as a focused inspection, per the appropriate OSHA guidelines. Employee rights under the OSH Act will be afforded. During the verification inspections, if OSHA personnel identify serious hazards that site management refuses to correct, the scope of the inspection may be expanded.
      
      
   2. Complaint/Referral 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.
      
      
   3. OSHA agrees that a copy of each non-formal complaint/referral related to the work site and filed with OSHA will be forwarded by fax, or by CSHO, to the MPSA Savannah Machinery Works Construction Project Management office onsite. In accordance with applicable law, the name of the complainant requesting confidentiality will not be revealed. Batson-Cook agrees to investigate these complaints, regardless of the employer involved and provide OSHA with a written response within 5 working days.
      
      
   4. Accident Investigations: Employers engaged in this Partnership recognize that OSHA fully investigates accidents involving a fatality or serious physical harm. If during the course of the investigation OSHA determines that the incident resulted from violations of the OSHA standards, the employer will not be afforded partnership benefits.
      
      
   5. Accident Investigations: Employers engaged in this Partnership recognize that OSHA fully investigates accidents involving a fatality or serious physical harm. If during the course of the investigation OSHA determines that the incident resulted from violations of the OSHA standards, the employer will not be afforded Partnership benefits.
      
9. EMPLOYEE/EMPLOYER RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
   
   This Partnership does not preclude employees and/or employers from exercising any right provided under the OSH Act, nor abrogates any responsibility to comply with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the OSH Act.
   
   
10. TERMINATION
    
    It is understood that this Partnership shall be in effect until completion of construction activities at the MPSA Savannah Machinery Works Project - Balance Bunker and Bay 5 Construction Site, but in no case longer than two-years. Should any “signatory” stakeholder choose to withdraw prior to project completion, a written notice shall be given stating the reason(s) and providing 30 days notice to the other party(s).
    
    If OSHA chooses to withdraw its participation in the Partnership, the entire Partnership is terminated. Any party may also propose modification or amendment of the Partnership. Changes to the Partnership may be implemented if all parties are in agreement that it is in the best interest of all members involved.
    
    
11. MPSA SAVANNAH MACINERY WORK – OSP SIGNATURE PAGE
    
    

Partnership Signing Date: _____________________