OSHA Strategic Partnerships Program > Region VI

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN

THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

and

BALFOUR/RUSSELL/PEGASUS, a joint venture

on the

DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL PROJECT

BACKGROUND/IDENTIFICATION OF PARTNERS
1. Background
  
  To facilitate OSHA’s goal of reducing occupational-related fatalities and serious injuries within the construction industry, OSHA and Balfour/Russell/Pegasus (“BRP”) have agreed to enter into a cooperative partnership agreement with respect to the Dallas Convention Center Hotel project (“Project”) 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 a jobsite controlled by a contractor that has demonstrated an effective safety and health program. The Partnership agreement is an effective tool for ensuring safety at the Project. It will serve to establish a cooperative effort in ensuring safety and maintaining an open line of communication between OSHA and contractors on the worksite. 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 increased participation in the safety process from the construction community.
2. Partners
  - OSHA
  - Balfour/Russell/Pegasus
  - Texo ( AGC/ABC)
PURPOSE/SCOPE

This partnering agreement was developed jointly by OSHA, BRP, and Texo. 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 other partners, BRP expects to reduce exposure to hazards and the incidence of serious injuries and fatalities at the Project. 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 2008 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction had a fatality rate of 9.6 per 100,000 employees compared with manufacturing rate of 2.5. Construction has 20% of all the fatalities but employs only 6% of the workforce. In Texas, the total lost workday injury and illness incident rate per 100 employees is 4.0 compared to the national average of 2.5. The hazards associated with the construction industry are well documented. 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 40-50% of its compliance resources to enforcement activity in the construction industry. The goal of this partnership agreement is to partner with BRP to help establish goals and best practices to achieve self-compliance through regular inspections and enforcement. The goal for the partnership is to achieve a “Zero Lost Time Accident” job site.
GOALS, STRATEGIES AND MEASURES

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:
1. Outcomes
  Target outcomes of this Partnership include:
  1. Achieving a “Zero Lost Time Accident” job site at the Project;
  2. Developing a model safety and health program;
  3. Creating and disseminating new safety and health materials to all subcontractors;
  4. Mentoring and training subcontractors and their employees;
  5. Increasing communication and mutual respect between stakeholders;
  6. Developing a business/labor/government partnership approach to safety management; and
  7. More efficiently directing OSHA resources towards the construction industry whose safety and health efforts require the most assistance.
2. Goals
  Participants of this Partnership will strive to:
  1. Achieve a “Zero Lost Time Accident” job site by providing a safe and healthful work environment for employees at the Dallas Convention Center Hotel Project;
  2. Increase the number of safety and health programs and best practices implemented among subcontractors; and
  3. Increase the number of employees, employers and supervisors who have completed relevant safety training.
3. Strategies
  Strategies to achieve one or all of the above goals:
  
  Establish a Partnership Committee comprised of OSHA, Texo, and the Loss Prevention Directors of Balfour Beatty and major subcontractors (or, if one does not exist, an equivalent senior manager) that will meet monthly to review the results of the comprehensive site audit conducted by the partnership and implement immediately corrective action at a senior level of their respective company. In addition, a Site Safety Committee, including the designated competent person of each subcontractor and led by BRP’s Project Safety Manager, will ensure compliance with this partnership agreement, including the daily and weekly inspections and preparation of required documentation for analysis and action by the Partnership Committee.
  1. Implement a comprehensive job site inspection program by:
    1. Completing Job Hazard Analyses prior to employee exposures, and identifying potential hazards to employee safety and health.
    2. Effectively correcting hazards found during the project on a day-to-day basis.
  2. Ensure all serious hazards are controlled through safe processes or procedures.
  3. Implement an aggressive Fall Protection Plan to include fall protection in all cases where work is being performed six feet or more above lower surfaces as set forth in Exhibit J of BRP’s subcontract.
  4. Ensure employees receive training as follows:
    1. 100% of BRP’s on-site supervisory personnel (e.g.; safety superintendents, assistant superintendents, and field engineers) and 100% of the major subcontractor competent person designees will complete the 30-hour OSHA construction course (or its equivalent). Subcontractors can utilize other instructors as long as they can show a valid certification card showing completion of the course.
    2. 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.
    3. Safety and health training to non-English speaking subcontractors with non-English speaking employees will be conducted in Spanish should the need arise.
    4. Other hazard-specific training will be conducted on an as-needed basis.
  5. Train employees in the OSHA 10-hour construction course (or its equivalent) to the extent possible, with a goal of at least 50% of the expected average employees being trained. Subcontractors can utilize other instructors as long as they can show a valid certification card showing completion of the course. BRP has primary responsibility for providing this training. OSHA will provide assistance as needed.
  6. Require subcontractors who have written safety and health programs to submit them to BRP. Companies that do not have their own written safety and health programs have the option of adopting the safety and health program of BRP or developing one by utilizing services provided by Texo.
  7. Ensure health-related issues arising during the course of the construction work are adequately addressed internally by BRP. All health-related issues will be discussed monthly during the partnership meetings.
    1. An effective hearing conservation program, including noise monitoring and the implementation of engineering controls where possible, will be implemented.
    2. 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.
  8. Ensure compliance with NFPA 70E when working on live electrical equipment, including training and the availability and use of personal protective equipment. A system of control procedures will be implemented to oversee the implementation of appropriate protective measures prior to exposure.
  9. Ensure all equipment capable of amputations is adequately guarded.
  10. Provide awards to participating companies that voluntarily improve their safety and health performance.
  11. Implement a Drug and Alcohol testing program.
  12. Utilize a third-party, independent, qualified/certified crane inspector to inspect all long-term cranes (tower and mobile) after they have been erected and certify them for safe operation. A recent inspection (less than one year) by a certified crane inspector will be required for short-term or for “day lift” mobile cranes.
  13. Establish and utilize a program to insure that all crane operators are competent and certified to operate the specific crane in use.
  14. Establish the criteria to identify and plan all critical lifts to be performed during the construction of the Project.
  15. Subcontractors with greater thatn 10 employees will provide copies of their OSHA 300 logs to BRP at completion of their on-site work or annually which ever occurs first.
4. 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 site compared to the average for the construction industry in Texas and nationally.
  2. Activity measures shall include the applicable number of employers, supervisors and employees trained. BRP will maintain the records of the 30-hour and 10-hour OSHA training certifications. All contractors will be required to conduct weekly safety toolbox talks.
  3. Intermediate measures will include the number of safety and health programs instituted. The programs will be maintained on site and evaluated by BRP and/or the OSHA Dallas Area Office.
  4. Outcome measures will be gathered on an monthly 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.
  5. Documented job site inspections and total number of hazards identified and corrected by the BRP and by each subcontractor. The job site inspections will indicate the number of hazards observed and subsequent progress and improvements with their safety and health programs.
  6. The number of actions of those individuals who undermine Balfour Beatty’s Zero Harm philosophy. The tools for tracking these actions may be the near miss incident reporting and the safety audits.
  7. Actions specific to NFPA 70E and work on live electrical, such as training records, PPE availability and use, and permits.
Measurement factors will be compiled monthly by BRP and at the end of the project.
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.

BRP is responsible 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.

OSHA is responsible to conduct, write and submit the annual evaluation.
BENEFITS

Participant benefits from OSHA may include:
1. 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 Comprehensive Safety and Health Program (CSHP), 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).
2. Priority consideration for compliance assistance and offsite technical assistance (phone calls/faxes) by OSHA as resources allow.
OSHA INSPECTIONS AND VERIFICATION

OSHA will conduct one unannounced enforcement verification inspection each year for the term of the project. These inspections will be conducted through normal enforcement inspection activity. Inspections conducted in response to complaints, Local Emphasis Programs, or referrals will qualify as the monitoring inspection if, in addition to addressing the complaint/referral item(s), the compliance officer completes the focused inspection protocol for the worksite.

BRP and its subcontractors 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 as well as formal complaints received.
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.
PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION
1. BRP:
  1. Implement BRP’s Safety Program and a comprehensive safety and health program, which includes:
    1. Management commitment and employee involvement;
    2. Hazard analysis;
    3. Hazard control;
    4. Employee Training.
  2. Mentor subcontractors who have not yet developed their own safety and health program and, if necessary, refer them to OSHCON for assistance.
  3. Where the potential for airborne silica exposure exists, BRP will require the use of wet cutting techniques and/or dust collection systems in addition to the mandatory use of approved respiratory protection. To the extent feasible, personal air monitoring will be conducted to assess employee exposures levels. Where the potential for other health issues such as carbon monoxide, lead, or large-scale use of chemicals in the building interior (such as floor finishing’s) exists, BRP will coordinate air monitoring to assess employee exposure levels. Summaries of sampling results will be shared with the OSHA.
  4. Have the authority to enforce safety rules and regulations. This authority will include provisions to hold subcontractors and employees accountable and, if necessary, remove contractor employees from the job site.
  5. 100% fall protection for fall hazards over six (6) feet as set forth in BRP’s Exhibit J to its subcontracts.
    1. Warning lines may be used 6 feet from the edge, as long as 100% restraint system will be used to keep workers safe while working outside the 6 foot warning line from reaching the edge and falling to a lower level.
    2. Workers on the face of formwork or reinforcing steel must be protected from falling six feet or more by personal fall arrest systems, with the use of a positioning device.
  6. To the extent feasible, serious ergonomic hazards will be identified and corrected. The Texas Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Program and OSHA may be used as a resource.
  7. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI) will be 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
  8. The Project Safety Manager for BRP will be responsible for overseeing site safety and to serve as a point of contact and to oversee the partnership goals.
  9. Daily safety inspections will be conducted under the supervision of the Project Safety Manager. Since this is a multi-employer worksite and all workers are to work together on safety issues, a schedule of all daily site-safety inspections will be developed by BRP and the safety committee. This schedule will be posted near the site safety station for easy access.
  10. Conduct and document job site safety meetings/toolbox talks on a weekly basis.
  11. Submit monthly accident reports to the partners, including first aid, injury, property damage and near miss reports.
  12. BRP’s Project Safety Manager will coordinate and conduct a comprehensive site audit on a monthly basis. Partnership Committee Members will participate in the site safety audit when needed. If non-compliant activity or hazards are discovered, immediate correction is required. BRP will document the corrective action taken and share this information during the monthly update meetings.
  13. Allow OSHA access to the site during inspection activities (monitoring and unprogrammed activities such as fatalities and employee complaints) without requiring a warrant.
  14. Evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership and make recommendations for improvement.
  15. Job Site inspections and select Near Misses will be shared and made available to all workers. Select Near Misses and daily safety inspections will be discussed during daily toolbox meetings.
  16. No employee should be allowed to work directly below a suspended load except for: employees engaged in the initial connection of steel; employees necessary for hooking or unhooking of 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. All rigging must be tagged with work load limits or color coded to identify the work load limits.
  17. Require the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Hardhats and eye protection will be worn at all times on the worksite. All employees working during the structural and skin phase of the project and those working at night thereafter shall wear Class 2 high-visibility reflective vests as defined by ANSI/ISEA 107.
2. OSHA:
  1. OSHA will participate as available in the monthly Partnership Committee meetings.
  2. Designate an experienced safety and health specialist to serve as a resource and liaison for partnership participants. The Dallas Area Office will review BRP’s safety and health programs, subcontractor safety and health programs as needed, and review other pertinent documentation, such as steel erection, and assist with safety and health training.
  3. Give priority to the Project when technical assistance is needed.
  4. Audit the monthly reports/documents and make recommendations for improvements in meeting Partnership Goals.
  5. Conduct inspections in accordance with section VI of this partnership.
3. TEXO
  1. Assist with OSHA 10 and 30- hour training for the Project as necessary.
  2. Provide assistance as necessary for the attainment of the training goals outlined in paragraph III.
  3. Participate in the monthly Partnership Committee meetings.
4. Major Subcontractors:
  1. Appoint a Partnership Committee member to act as the person responsible to resolve job site safety matters and be the liaison to BRP Site Safety Manager.
  2. Conduct job site safety inspections for those employees under their control. This will be in addition to the general, non-documented inspections that are to occur daily. If non-compliant activity or hazards are discovered, immediate correction is required. Documentation of abatement methods and verification must be submitted to the BRP’s Site Safety Manager.
  3. Participate in the monthly Partnership Committee meetings and on monthly safety audits. If non-compliant activity or hazards are discovered, immediate correction is required. Abatement methods and verification must be submitted to BRP’s Safety Manager who will document the correction taken and share this information during the monthly update meeting.
  4. A representative from each major subcontractor will be required to participate in the site safety committee.
  5. Jobsite inspections will be shared and made available to all workers in the project office.
  6. Request services from TEXO if assistance is required in developing a safety and health program for the Project.
TERMINATION

This agreement shall be in effect until completion of construction activities. 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 agreement is terminated. Either party may also propose modification or amendment of the agreement.

Changes to the Partnership Agreement may be implemented if all parties are in agreement that it is in the best interest of all members involved.
TERM of AGREEMENT
This partnership will remain in effect from the date of signing until Jan 30, 2012 or completion of the project which ever occurs first.

SIGNATURES

The date of this BRP /OSHA Partnership Agreement is_______________, 2009.

R. Dean Wingo Assistant Regional Administrator Region VI, Dallas, TX Regional Office	Doug Jones, Division CEO Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC, as managing partner of Balfour/Russell/Pegasus
Stephen D [Hank] Mouser, CHST Director of Loss Prevention, DFW Balfour Beatty Construction Company	Michael J. Russell, President H.J. Russell & Company
Richard Knight, President Pegasus Texas Construction, LP	Raleigh Roussell, President& CEO TEXO


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