OSHA Strategic Partnership Program<< Back to Region VI

  1. PARTNERS

    The following are identified as partners:
     
    1. U.S. Department of Labor-OSHA, LDO.
    2. Lee Lewis Construction Company.
  2. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

    The Lee Lewis Construction Company and the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Lubbock District Office (LDO) and El Paso Area Office (EPAO) mutually recognize the importance of ensuring a safe and healthful work environment in the construction industry in the State of Texas. To advance this mutual goal, the Partnership between The Lee Lewis Construction Company and OSHA has been established to formalize a cooperative effort between these entities, committed to encouraging companies to improve their safety and health performance voluntarily, providing methods to assist them in their efforts, and recognizing companies with exemplary safety and health programs.

    This Partnering Agreement, which has been developed for Lee Lewis Construction Company Projects located in the 79 counties of the El Paso Area Office/Lubbock District Office Occupational Safety & Health Administration, will be limited to the Lee Lewis Construction Company, specialty or trade contractors at the site, and other companies that work closely with Lee Lewis Construction on a number of its projects. The companies that work closely with Lee Lewis Construction Company on a number of projects will be invited to participate at the beginning of this Partnership and will remain participants until such time as they wish to withdraw or the partnership ceases. Lee Lewis Construction will invite specialty or trade contractors to join the partnership at the time they start working on a particular project site. The partnership will provide benefits to Lee Lewis Construction Company, and the specialty or trade contractors, which include, among others, special recognition from OSHA and priority in compliance assistance programs. Lee Lewis Construction Company projects consist of: See Appendix A

    Lee Lewis Construction Company retains all rights guaranteed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), including the right to appeal or contest citations issued by OSHA.

  3. GOALS / STRATEGIES / MEASURES
     
    GOALS STRATEGIES MEASURES
    1) Reduce by 5% annually the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities affecting participating employers, with an emphasis on reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from falls, struck-by, caught-in/between, and electrocution hazards and trenching.

    2) Decrease worker compensation costs and the number of OSHA citations for this project within the Lubbock District Office’s jurisdiction.    		 a. Require all specialty or trade contractors onsite to work toward implementing a "zero tolerance" safety practice in order to help achieve the desired reduction of worksite incidents i. OSHA’s 300 injury and illness data.
    ii. Obtain the total case incidence rate (TCIR) and days away restricted time (DART) rates for previous three years which will be used as the baseline data.
    iii. Number of hazards identified by type and corrected.
    3) Allow OSHA to focus resources on companies that require attention from OSHA, rather than companies that have demonstrated existence of effective safety programs.
    4) Make safety and health resources available to Lee Lewis Construction Company, and its specialty or trade contractors on site, as resources allow.    		  a) Develop and implement a comprehensive safety and health program that adheres to, or exceeds, both the OSHA Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines. The comprehensive written safety and health program will, at a minimum:
    1. Include employee involvement.
    2. Include effective employee training for avoidance of hazards specific to the company's work site.
    3. Provide construction site supervisors and foremen (including supervisors and foremen of specialty or trade contractors) with training equivalent to OSHA's 10-hour Construction Safety Course to be able to recognize work hazards and have the authority to take prompt corrective action. Training curriculum equivalent to the OSHA 10-hour course will be deemed satisfactory.
    b) Designate a competent person at the worksite.    		 i. A minimum of 1 inspection or more as deemed necessary will be performed at the site by Lee Lewis Construction Company, or any third party.
    5) It is anticipated with minimal use of OSHA resources, this OSPP will result in improved safety and health programs, a higher level of employee safety and health training, and as a secondary benefit, improved job site safety and health program commitments by other specialty or trade contractors working with/for the OSPP participants.

    6) Foster open and continuing communication between the partners.    		 a) Conduct and document weekly safety training at the worksite.

    b) Compile injury and illness data on a quarterly basis to assist with tracking industry trends and establishing an industry baseline.    		  (See above)
    7) Share knowledge of the best practices. a) Compile a summary of the number of inspections made by Lee Lewis Construction Company’s Safety Director (or their designee) and any third party. The report will be broken down into the four major categories of construction-focused hazards, and will show the number of items within the four (4) categories that were corrected. i. Number of best practices identified and highlighted.


  4. Evaluation

    An annual evaluation of this partnership will be conducted within thirty (30) days of the first anniversary of the signing of the agreement. The Appendix C of the Directive CSP [03-02-002], "OSHA Strategic Partnership program for Worker Safety and Health," will be used to provide pertinent information needed to assess the partnership.

    It will be the responsibility of Lee Lewis Construction Company to gather required participant data to evaluate and track overall results and success of the partnership.

    After the first year of the partnership, subsequent evaluations are to be conducted at least thirty (30) days prior to the anniversary of the signing.

  5. Benefits

    In good standing, Lee Lewis Construction Company will receive the following benefits from OSHA:
     
    1. Special recognition, which may include but is not limited to, press releases issued by OSHA and recognition on OSHA’s web page designating Lee Lewis Construction Company as a participant in the OSPP.
    2. Availability of informational materials such as safety and health publications and electronic tools.
    3. Following an onsite enforcement inspection conducted to meet OSHA Strategic Partnership verification requirements, it will not be necessary to conduct a programmed inspection at any of the Partnership Agreement project sites within the next twelve (12) months.
    4. Priority status to Lee Lewis Construction Company, and specialty or trade contractors for compliance assistance and outreach activities, including the OSHA 10- Hour Construction Course, as resources allow.
    5. If cited, Lee Lewis Construction Company, and specialty or trade contractors that join in the partnership may be provided an additional 10% reduction for good faith beyond the reductions provided in the Field Operations Manual (FOM) where Lee Lewis Construction Company, in implementing this OSPP, has taken specific steps beyond those provided in the FOM, to implement the Act. This additional reduction will not apply to high gravity serious, willful, failure to abate or repeat citations.
    Although certain benefits described above may modify OSHA enforcement procedures, OSHA personnel will continue to investigate workplace complaints, referrals, fatalities, catastrophes, and other significant accidents or events at the site, per standard Agency procedures.

  6. VERIFICATION PROCEDURES

    To determine contractor compliance with the terms of the agreement, an on-site comprehensive enforcement verification inspection will be conducted within thirty (30) days from the signing of the partnership agreement. Citations and penalties may be issued, when appropriate, as a result of this inspection. Enforcement verification inspections are performed in accordance with the applicable sections of the OSHA FOM, and other enforcement guidance documents.

    If additional inspections are necessary they will be conducted in accordance with the FOM and other applicable enforcement documents. A focused inspection, concentrating on the project safety and health program/plan, and the four leading hazards in construction: falls, electrical hazards, caught in/between hazards, and struck by hazards may be performed where upon initial inspection of the site the CSHO determines that the contractor meets the requirement of the Focused Inspection Initiative.

  7. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION OF PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

    1. A Partnership Management Team (PMT) with members from Lee Lewis Construction Company and OSHA will oversee and coordinate this partnership. The team will determine partnership procedures, which will include measures to be used and data to be collected, hold conference calls, and meet at least annually to evaluate the effectiveness of the agreement.
    2. The previous three year TCIR for Lee Lewis Construction Company baseline will be used to determine whether the annual goal of a 5% reduction in the number of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities has been met. Lee Lewis Construction Company and LDO are responsible for collecting baseline and annual performance data upon which the SPP will be measured.
  8. EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

    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 Act.

  9. Term

    This agreement will terminate two (2) years from the day of signing. If either OSHA Lee Lewis Construction Company wishes to withdraw their participation prior to the established termination date, the agreement will terminate upon receiving a written notice of the intent to withdraw from either signatory.

  10. Signatories

    Signed this ___ day of _________________________________.



     
    JACK RECTOR, Area Director
    Occupational Safety & Health Administration
    Lubbock District Office/El Paso Area Office
    Lee Lewis
    CEO
    Lee Lewis Construction Company

Appendix A List of Lee Lewis Construction Jobs

Appendix B List of Subcontractors that will be participating in this Partnership through Lee Lewis Construction

Appendix C List of Other Companies that will be participating in this Partnership through Lee Lewis Construction