OSHA Strategic Partnership Program<< Back to Region V


  1. BACKGROUND/IDENTIFICATION OF PARTNERS

    A. Background

    To facilitate OSHA’s goal of reducing occupational-related fatalities and serious injuries within the construction industry, OSHA and the AGC of Greater Milwaukee have agreed to enter into a cooperative Partnership agreement which will effectively implement all facets of jobsite safety and achieve self-compliance through cooperative efforts from labor, management, and OSHA.

    This Partnership is designed to address the hazards within the construction industry, and to promote and recognize those jobsites controlled by contractors that have demonstrated an effective safety and health program. The Partnership agreement is an effective tool for ensuring safety on a variety of construction projects across the State of Wisconsin. It will serve to establish a cooperative effort in ensuring safety and maintaining an open line of communication between OSHA and contractors on the worksites. The 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 innovation in safety management, and encourages more participation in the safety process from the construction community.

    B. Partners
    1. Madison, Wisconsin OSHA Area Office
    2. Appleton, Wisconsin OSHA Area Office
    3. Milwaukee, Wisconsin OSHA Area Office
    4. Eau Claire, Wisconsin OSHA Area Office
    5. AGC of Greater Milwaukee and its members
    6. Wisconsin Onsite Consultation Program (WisCon)
  2. PURPOSE and SCOPE

    This partnering agreement was developed jointly by AGC of Greater Milwaukee and OSHA. The common objective and goal of the agreement is to provide a safe and healthful work environment for employees involved in the construction industry and to help prevent serious accidents and fatalities within the industry through increased training, implementation of best work practices, enhanced safety and health programs, and compliance with applicable OSHA standards and regulations.

    This initiative represents a voluntary agreement and affords a Partnership alternative to the traditional OSHA enforcement procedures.

    By focusing its efforts and utilizing the skills, knowledge and resources of OSHA and the Wisconsin On-site Safety Consultation Program, AGC of Greater Milwaukee and its partnered members expect to reduce exposure to hazards and the incidence of serious injuries and fatalities at construction projects across the State of Wisconsin. Increased communication between the stakeholders and the resultant mutual respect are additional benefits expected to be realized from this cooperative and voluntary partnership.

    According to 2007 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction had a fatality rate of 10.3 per 100,000 employees compared with a manufacturer rate of 2.4. Construction has 20% of all the fatalities but employs only 6% of the workforce. In Wisconsin, the Construction Industry’s Days Away, Restricted, Transfer (DART) rate per 100 employees is 3.5 compared to the national average of 2.8. OSHA has identified the top four causes of fatalities: falls, being struck by equipment or machinery, electrocution, and caught-in-between equipment. On an average, OSHA has traditionally devoted 40-55% of its compliance resources to enforcement activity in the construction industry. The goal of the Partnership is to significantly reduce and/or eliminate any accidents, and achieve a total DART rate for the partners below the national average of 2.8


  3. GOALS AND MEASUREMENT

    The overall goal of the 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. This Partnership will strive to achieve that goal by establishing a foundation of proactive measures which will include:

    A. Outcomes

    Outcomes of this Partnership may include:
    1. Reduction in partnered employers’ injuries, illnesses and fatalities, with an emphasis on reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from those hazards that are the four leading causes of death on construction sites (falls, struck-by, caught in/between and electrocutions);
    2. Increase in the number of general and specialty contractors who implement effective safety and health programs and provide effective safety and health training for management, supervisors and employees;
    3. Creation and dissemination of new safety and health materials to all subcontractors;
    4. Mentoring and training of subcontractors and their employees;
    5. Increased communication between stakeholders and resultant mutual respect;
    6. Development of a business/labor/government partnership approach to safety management;
    7. Recognition of those contractors with exemplary safety and health programs and effective site-specific safety and health plans;
    8. Promotion of open lines of communication between OSHA and the AGC in pursuit of safety; and
    9. OSHA resources directed towards the construction industry whose safety and health efforts require the most assistance.
    B. Goals

    Participants of this Partnership will strive to:
    1. Maintain DART and TCIR rates at least 15% below the national BLS rates for contractors in the program.
    2. Increase the number of employees, employers and supervisors who have completed relevant safety training in OSHA 30-Hour for constructions to a minimum 25 for the partners, and increase the number of OSHA 10-Hour for construction by 100 for the Partners
    C. Strategies

    Strategies to achieve one or all of the above goals:
    1. Reduction in the number of injuries, illnesses, and/or fatalities affecting participant employers.
    2. Implementation of comprehensive job site inspection programs of partnered sites, to include:
      1. Job hazard analyses intended to identify potential hazards to employee safety and health and completed prior to employee exposures;
      2. Environmental monitoring for those jobs and activities where toxins, carcinogens, or hazardous substances currently emphasized by OSHA and which present inhalation hazards, such as silica, lead, chromium, cadmium, or isocyanates. Employee exposures will be assumed and respiratory protection worn until the results of the initial monitoring studies are received and demonstrate no exposure problems.
      3. Immediate correction of hazards found during the project.
    3. Strive for no injuries on the job and ensure all serious hazards are controlled through safe processes or procedures.
    4. Implement an aggressive Fall Protection Plan to include fall protection where feasible when work is being performed six feet or more above lower surfaces. Where it is determined to be infeasible or creates a greater hazard, participant will conduct a job safety analysis (JSA) that may include alternative methods.

      (Although providing mandatory fall protection at the 6’ level is not required by the current OSHA construction standards in all cases, the contractors on this partnership are committed to providing a greater level of protection to the employees working at this site and will require protection at the 6’ level and above)
    5. Ensure employees receive training as follows:
      1. All employees will receive a site-specific construction safety orientation covering jobsite safety and health issues and procedures relative to the work being performed and the requirements outlined in this Partnership Agreement. Employees working on site for more than 30 consecutive days will receive additional site-specific training as needed.
      2. Safety and health training to subcontractors with non-English speaking employees will be conducted in a language understandable, should the need arise.
      3. Other hazard-specific training will be conducted on an as-needed basis.
    6. Train employees in the OSHA 10 and 30-Hour construction course (or its equivalent) to the extent possible
    7. Require subcontractors who have written safety and health programs to submit them to the General Contractor. Companies that do not have their own written safety and health programs will be referred to the Wisconsin On-Site Safety Consultation Program for assistance.
    8. Ensure health-related issues arising during the course of the construction work at partnered sites are adequately addressed. An effective hearing conservation program, including noise monitoring and the implementation of engineering controls where possible, will be implemented. OSHA has determined that an effective hearing conservation program consists of the following elements:
      1. Monitoring of employee noise exposures;
      2. The institution of engineering, work practice, and administrative controls for excessive noise;
      3. The provision of hearing protection; and
      4. Employee training on the hazards of noise and protective measures
    9. An effective environmental monitoring program will be implemented to control airborne hazards, such as silica, and will include personal monitoring, implementation of engineering controls where possible, and the use of respiratory protection.
    10. Ensure compliance with OSHA’s Electrical Safe Work Practices and NFPA 70E when working on live electrical equipment, including training and the availability and use of personal protective equipment. A permitting system will be implemented to oversee the implementation of appropriate protective measures prior to exposure.
    11. Ensure that all equipment capable of amputations is adequately guarded.
    12. OSHA may provide benefits to participating companies that voluntarily improve their safety and health performance. (see Benefits section below).

    D. Measurement Systems

    1. The measurement system will use OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses to determine the total lost workday injury and illness rate for the participants compared to the average for the construction industry in Wisconsin and nationally.
    2. Activity measures shall include the applicable number of employers, supervisors and employees trained. Intermediate measures will include the number of safety and health programs instituted.
    3. Outcome measures will be gathered on a quarterly basis and will incorporate data to analyze the number of hours worked, number of injuries, illnesses and fatalities, and the number of serious violations found as a result of onsite audits, job site inspections and OSHA inspection activity.
    4. Outcome measures will also include documented jobsite inspections and total number of hazards identified and corrected by the general contractor and by each sub-contractor. The jobsite inspections will indicate the number of hazards observed and subsequent progress and improvements with safety and health programs.
    5. Actions specific to NFPA 70E and work on live electrical, such as training records, PPE availability and use, and permits will be documented.
    6. Measurement factors will be compiled quarterly by AGC of Greater Milwaukee .
  4. ANNUAL EVALUATION

    The program will be evaluated on an annual basis through the use of the Strategic Partnership Annual Evaluation Format measurement system as specified in Appendix C of CSP 03-02-002, OSHA Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health Directive.

    It will be the responsibility of AGC of Greater Milwaukee 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 conduct, write and submit the annual evaluation.


  5. BENEFITS

    Participant benefits from OSHA may include:

    For Four (4) and Five(5)-STAR Participants: the maximum penalty reductions allowed in the OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual (FIRM) for good faith and history. When calculating the initial penalty reduction, OSHA may provide an additional 10% reduction for good faith beyond the 25% reductions provided in the FIRM where the employer, in implementing the OSP, has taken specific significant steps beyond those provided in the FIRM to implement the Act and achieve a high 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).

    For all Participants: Priority consideration for compliance assistance and offsite technical assistance (phone calls/faxes) by Wisconsin On-Site Consultation and OSHA as resources allow. On multi-employer worksites, during inspections of non-participant employers, 5-STAR participants will not be included in the inspection unless there is evidence in-plain-view that employees are exposed to serious hazards.

    5-STAR Participants will receive unprogrammed inspections only in response to reports of imminent danger, observed serious hazards, fatalities/catastrophes, and formal complaints. OSHA will use telephone or fax to handle all other complaints except those cases involving serious injuries. When an inspection of a non-formal complaint is deemed necessary, a copy of the complaint will be provided to the Participant’s Safety Director or other designated representative at the time of inspection;

    For all participants: OSHA will not issue citations for other-than-serious violations provided the violations are abated prior to CSHO leaving the site;

    If inspection of a Partner is deemed necessary for any reason, OSHA will allow the designated employer representative to be present during the inspection. This person’s absence will not preclude the start of an inspection. However, prior to the conclusion of an inspection, the CSHO will meet with the designated employer representative at their request;


  6. OSHA INSPECTIONS AND VERIFICATION

    OSHA will conduct planned verification inspections of 10% of the Partnership participants. These onsite verification inspections will be enforcement Inspections. Programmed enforcement inspections conducted during the year can also serve as verification inspections. Inspections conducted in response to complaints, Local Emphasis Programs, or referrals will qualify as verification inspections if, in addition to addressing the complaint/referral item(s), the compliance officer completes the focused inspection protocol for the worksite. 5 STAR participant job sites within the partnership jurisdiction will not receive a U-Tenn programmed inspection within the next twelve months provided that one comprehensive enforcement inspection has occurred;

    Participants belonging to AGC of Greater Milwaukee will remain subject to OSHA inspections and investigations in accordance with agency procedures. OSHA will continue to investigate fatalities and catastrophes that occur at member companies.


  7. EMPLOYEE/EMPLOYER RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

    This Partnership does not preclude employees and/or employers from exercising any right provided under the OSH Act, nor does it abrogate any responsibility to comply with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act.


  8. PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION

    A. The AGC of Greater Milwaukee Partnership will be implemented in three levels as provided for in Addendum A of this Partnership:

    B. OSHA will:
    1. Participate as available in the quarterly Partnership Committee meetings.
    2. Designate an experienced safety and health specialist to serve as a resource and liaison for Partnership participants. The Compliance Assistance Specialist from the Milwaukee Area Office will review contractor safety and health programs and other pertinent documentation such as steel erection, and assist with safety and health training.
    3. Give priority to the AGC of Greater Milwaukee participants when technical assistance is needed.
    4. Audit the quarterly reports/documents and make recommendations for improvements in meeting Partnership Goals.
    5. Conduct inspections in accordance with Section VI of this Partnership.
    C. The Wisconsin Onsite Consultation Program (WisCon) will:
    1. Assist with OSHA 10 and 30-Hour training as necessary.
    2. Work with subcontractors to establish effective safety and health programs.
    3. Provide assistance as necessary for the attainment of the training goals outlined in Paragraph III.
    4. Participate in the quarterly Partnership Committee meetings.
    5. Provide inspections of the AGC of Greater Milwaukee participants.
    6. Review the Partnership and make recommendations for improvement.

  9. TERMINATION

    A. A contractor’s participation will be terminated by the AGC of Greater Milwaukee (and OSHA will be informed of the termination) if one or more of the following occurs:
    1. An inspection by the CPRC or OSHA reveals a significant deviation from program criteria;
    2. The contractor has falsified information on the application or supporting records;
    3. The contractor’s total case injury/illness incidence rate rises above criteria set in paragraph 4.D.9 for 4-STAR level participants or paragraph 4.E.12 for 5-STAR level participants; or
    4. The contractor takes other such actions that may be determined to be grounds for termination by the Partnership Review Board.
    B. Prior to final termination of a contractor’s status, the following will occur:
    1. The contractor will be notified in writing of the intent to terminate;
    2. The notice will include an explanation of the reasons for termination;
    3. The contractor will have an opportunity to reply to the written notice within a period of thirty (30) days; and
    4. The contractor will have the right to appear before the Partnership Review Board.
    C. The Partnership Review Board will have the authority to reinstate the contractor if it determines that the contractor’s experience was unusual and not inconsistent with a sound safety and health program.

    D. Any contractor may terminate participation in the program at any time.

    E. The Partnership will have an initial term of three years and may be renewed if all signatory parties concur.

    F. Any signatory party to the partnership may withdraw from the agreement at any time after submitting written notification of intent to the Partnership Review Board.

    G. If OSHA chooses to withdraw its participation in the Partnership, the entire agreement is terminated.


  10. SIGNATURES

    The date of this AGC of Greater Milwaukee/OSHA Partnership Agreement is

 



________________________________________
AGC of Greater Milwaukee


________________________________________



________________________________________
Mel Lischefski, Area Director
OSHA - Appleton


________________________________________
George Yoksas, Area Director
OSHA - Milwaukee



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Kimberly Stille, Area Director
OSHA - Madison


________________________________________
John Chapin
Onsite Occupational Safety and Health
Consultation Program in Wisconsin



________________________________________
Mark Hysell, Area Director
OSHA - Eau Claire