Identification of Partners
The United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Toledo
and Cleveland Area Offices, and the North Coast Building Industry Association (BIA) mutually
recognize the importance of providing a safe and healthful work environment for employees of the
Nation’s construction workforce. In working together as partners, we are committed to achieving a
reduction of injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the construction industry through means of open
communication, promoting recognition for construction safety excellence, and sharing knowledge of
the best industry technology, innovations and work practices that improve safety and health
performance.
Purpose/Scope
This partnership represents a voluntary agreement which affords BIA members with an alternative to
traditional OSHA enforcement. Expected outcomes of this partnership include:
- Reduction of injuries and illnesses in connection with construction activities in Northern Ohio;
- Expanded contractor awareness of the value of safety and health management systems;
- Enhanced leveraging of OSHA’s resources;
- Greater compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards;
- Increased Occupational Safety and Health training for construction workers;
Goals/Strategies
- Reduce workplace injuries and illnesses by 3 percent annually by developing a comprehensive
safety and health management process approach. This approach consists of a joint employee and
management safety and health committee to develop and administer the following:
- Principals of Commitment;
- Comprehensive written safety and health program based on a task analysis;
- Relevant safety and health training for workers and supervisors;
- Inspections of worksites, documenting hazards and near miss accidents;
- Disciplinary procedure for violation of safety and health rules;
- Reviewing the company program at least annually.
- Provide construction worksites free from exposure to recognized hazards through:
- Conducting frequent and regular inspections and investigations of near miss accidents;
- Developing and enforcing disciplinary procedures for employees violating safety rules.
- Increased Occupational Safety and Health training for construction workers:
- Training Workers on relevant safety and health issues in the workplace;
- Participation in Competent Person Training for supervisor and management;
- Regular sponsored "safety talks" on near miss accident and relevant task/hazard topics.
Performance Measures:
Goal Number 1:
This partnership will attempt to reduce the number of incidents that have potential to result in
worker injury or illness with a goal of zero fatalities and lost time injuries. The DART rate,
(Incidence rate for recordable cases involving days away from work, days of restricted work activity
or job transfer) and the TCIR (Total Case Incident Rate), for participating contractors should not
exceed the national average for their respective Standard Industrial Classification, (SIC).
Participating Contractors will strive to further reduce their incident rates by 3% each year.
Goal Number 2:
Through frequent and regular inspections conducted by a competent person, the identification and
correction of hazards will be tracked on a monthly basis. The number of near miss accidents will be
tracked on a quarterly basis. The tracked information shall be maintained in a database developed by
the Partnership Committee. A quarterly report will be developed from this database to track
progress.
Goal Number 3:
Within three months of participation in the partnership, contractors must submit a list of employees
who have attended OSHA 10 hour or equivalent construction training. Annually, contractors must
submit topics covered under safety talks. This information will be maintained in the Partnership
Committee’s data base.
Annual Evaluation:
Annually each participant will submit to the BIA Health and Safety Committee the following
information:
- Documentation of hazards identified and corrected through worksite inspections;
- Documented near miss accidents;
- Safety and Health training records;
- OSHA form 300A and total man hours worked for the company and those worksites lasting for longer
than one year;
- Best practices or success stories;
- List of topics covered in safety talks and number of employees in attendance.
Periodic Inspections:
Each participating member shall have one of their worksites inspected at least once per year by an
independent third party occupational safety and health firm. Said firm must have either a Certified
Safety Professional or Certified Industrial Hygienist supervise the inspection1. The results of the
inspection will be factored into the annual evaluation.2
Criteria for Participation:
In order to qualify for participation, all contractors must comply with the terms of the partnership
criteria.
- Contractors will be required to develop and implement a safety and health program which includes
the following elements:
- Management Commitment and Leadership – Provides the motivating force and the resources (time,
expertise, financial) for organizing and controlling activities within an organization. In an
effective program, management regards worker safety and health as a fundamental value of the
organization and applies its commitment to safety and health protection with as much vigor as to
other organizational purposes. Management serves as a role model in safety and health matters for
employees to emulate. Management commitment requires a leadership role when it comes to such matters
as planning, written programs, authority and resources, line accountability and contract worker
coverage.
- Employee Involvement – Provides the means through which workers develop and/or express their own
commitment to safety and health protection, for themselves and for their fellow worker. Employee
involvement must be meaningful and without the fear of reprisals. Examples of employee involvement
include, but are not limited to:
- Conducting site inspections, safety and health audits, job hazard analyzes, and other types of
hazard identification.
- Developing and using a system of reporting hazards.
- Developing and revising the site’s safety and health rules and safe work practices.
- Participating on workplace teams charged with identifying root causes of accidents, incidents, or
breakdowns.
- Participating on safety and health committees or joint labor-management committees.
- Participation in safety and health reviews.
- Worksite Analysis – Involves a variety of worksite examinations to identify not only existing
hazards but also conditions and operations in which changes might occur to create hazards. Worksite
analyses can include, but are not limited to the following: physical inspections of the workplace to
observe existing and potential hazards, conducting accident and near-miss investigations of the
workplace to determine existing and potential hazards, evaluating trends in injuries and illnesses,
and conducting medical symptom surveys of employees.
- Hazard Prevention and Control – Triggered by a determination that a hazard or potential hazard
exits, the hazards are eliminated, where feasible, by effective design of the job site or task.
Where it is not feasible to eliminate them, they are controlled to prevent unsafe and unhealthful
exposure to workers.
- Safety and Health Training – Providing all employees with hazard recognition skills, along with
the means and methods necessary to protect themselves from potential hazards.
- The effectiveness of the safety and health program will be confirmed through a site visit
evaluation, performed by the contractors hired independent third party occupational safety and
health firm, and consisting of the following elements:
- Comprehensive on-site safety and health inspection;
- Review of written Safety and Health Program and site specific plan
- Review of Training records;
- Review of OSHA 300 logs
Any deficiencies noted in the evaluation that constitutes an OSHA defined serious hazard must be
corrected in 30 days and documented by the contractor.
- The contractors will have the following "enhanced" safety and health requirements as well as all
other provisions of this agreement:
- A permit requirement and prior approval from the Employer’s "Competent Person" for confined space
work, hot work, and excavation work.
- Require the use of fall protection when performing work that is in excess of 6 feet above a lower
level3.
- Mandatory use of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs).
- Loads shall not be lifted over the heads of employees.
- Employees exposed to vehicular traffic shall wear reflective material.
- Appropriate protection shall be provided for all trench and excavation work.
- All scaffolding will have guardrails and cross braces.
- All machines will have proper safety guards.
- Partners will make a commitment to see that all employees, where necessary, will wear a hardhat
and eye protection while accessing, egressing, and working on jobsites.
- Provide hand washing or lotion facilities, where feasible, within close proximity to the
restroom facilities. The restroom facilities will be clean, in good repair, appropriately supplied,
and have a workable inside lock.
- Contractors will have Competent Personnel on each project that are responsible for, possess the
authority to, and are capable of effectively implementing the overall Project-specific safety and
health program as well as their employer’s safety and health program.
- Contractors will designate a Project Safety Representative who has completed OSHA 30-hour or
equivalent.
By February 1st of each year, contractors will submit to the OSHA Partnership Committee their
summary injury/illness data and records, 4which document their DART (Incidence rate for recordable
cases involving days away from work, days of restricted work activity or job transfer) and TCIR
(Total case incidence rate) rates for all work for the previous year.
Benefits
Employers meeting all necessary criteria for participation in this partnership will receive benefits
as follows:
- When calculating the initial penalty reduction, OSHA may provide an additional 10% reduction for
good faith beyond the reductions provided in the FIRM where the employer has taken specific steps
beyond those provided in the FIRM to implement the Act and achieve a higher level of employee
protection (see FIRM, Chapter IV.C.2.i.5[b]). This additional reduction will not apply to high
gravity serious, willful, failure to abate or repeat citations. In cases where a partner’s total
penalty reduction is 100 percent or more, the minimum penalty provisions of the FIRM will apply (see
FIRM, Chapter IV.C.2.b).
- OSHA will provide offsite preconstruction technical assistance, or on an as needed basis through
the life cycle of the worksite, for the participating contractors and their major subcontractors
where appropriate, to review safety and health issues specific to the selected worksite. Such issues
shall normally include but are not limited to protection from the four leading causes of fatalities
on construction sites including falls, electrocutions, struck by, and caught in or between.
OSHA Verification (Monitoring)
Participants randomly selected from the partnership member list will have the effectiveness of their
safety and health programs verified through an unannounced onsite inspection by OSHA5. The
number of OSHA onsite monitoring inspections will be a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 10% of the participants
annually, at the Area Director’s discretion, providing there are at least 10 partners. At a minimum,
there will be one OSHA onsite monitoring inspection annually. In addition, any OSHA inspections of a
participant’s job site can serve as a monitoring inspection. During the opening conference, the
selected inspection sites will be evaluated for a focused or non-focused inspection. It is
anticipated that sites qualifying for participation in this program would qualify for a focused
inspection6 . Inspections shall be conducted in accordance with all current guidelines and
National/Regional Office policy.
OSP Management and Operation
This partnership shall be administered by the BIA. Each partner shall designate a representative to
sit on the OSHA Partnership Committee. This OSHA Partnership Committee shall be responsible for
administration of the partnership, application review, and approval, as well as any resolution of
any issues which may arise with the partnership in effect. The Toledo OSHA area office shall serve
as an advisor to the OSHA Partnership Committee.
The OSHA Partnership Committee will hold quarterly conference calls/meetings to track analyze, and
share information on partnership activities and results. At least annually, the OSHA Partnership
Committee will meet to evaluate the effectiveness of the Agreement. These meetings will include
agenda items, such as:
- Evaluating data and partnership impact
- Identifying BIA members with outstanding safety and health excellence
- Share information on best practices that improve safety and health performance
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration agrees to:
- Work with the BIA and/or its members to provide free safety and health information, training, and
training materials.
- Provide training materials, through the BIA, to help employers understand and comply with OSHA
regulations and to implement effective safety and health management systems.
- Ensure that CSHOs are knowledgeable of partnership requirements and objectives, and encourage them
to provide assistance as requested by the BIA and/or its members.
- Not issue penalties for other than serious violations, provided the abatement of violations is
observed by the compliance officer.
- Track, analyze, and share information on activities such as:
- Current relevant OSHA inspection findings.
- Relevant regulatory interpretations.
- Current industry statistics.
BIA agrees to:
- Host committee meeting, quarterly and annually.
- Administer the program by providing staff support and facility usage.
- Promote program through monthly newsletter, and other BIA sanctioned activities.
- Act as first point of contact for perspective contractors.
- Recruit and retain program participants.
- Provide resources to support program participants and prospective participants.
Employee and Employer Rights
This partnership does not preclude employees and/or employers from exercising any right provided
under the OSHA Act, nor does it abrogate any responsibility to comply with rules and regulations
adopted pursuant to the Act.
Terms of OSP
This agreement will expire in August of 2008, which is 3 years from the date of signing. Should
either party choose to withdraw prior to that date, 30 days written notice will be given, either
party may also propose modification or amendment of the agreement.
Participation will be terminated if one or more of the following occurs:
- A site inspection reveals eligibility requirements are not being met.
- A participant has falsified information on the application or supporting records
- The participant takes other such actions that may be determined to be grounds for termination by
the Area Director.
Signed this 24th day of August, 2005:
Jule Jones
Area Director
Toledo Area Office
Department of Labor/OSHA |
David S. Linna, Sr.
President
North Coast BIA |
1Criteria for selecting periodic inspection will be
based on active construction sites, only when contractor representatives are available & coordinated
and scheduled with the contractor.
2For a detailed reference on the elements contained in the periodic inspections, please reference
the Criteria section in this document.
3BIA and OSHA recognize the difficulty to contractor compliance with this rule in residential
construction. BIA and OSHA will work cooperatively to develop approved alternative applications to
the strict adherence to this rule.
4These forms shall be made available through the BIA Safety & Health Committee.
5Regulations prohibit the Area office of OSHA to conduct announced inspections.
6Focused Inspections recognize the efforts of responsible contractors and therefore will limit,
("Focus") inspections on the leading hazards responsible for 90% of accidents. These areas include:
falls; struck by; caught in/between; and electrical. (reference Construction Focused Inspections
Initiative, January 6, 1995)
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