Partnership Agreement

• Partnership Agreement July 27, 2010

Construction Industry Partnerships
Blast Furnaces and Basic Steel Products Partnerships
Concrete, Gypsum and Plaster Products Partnerships
Lead Exposure Emphasis Partnerships
Silica and Related Disease Emphasis Partnerships

Partnership Overview:
The common objective and goal of this OSHA Strategic Partnership (OSP) is to provide a safe and healthful workplace for all employees engaged in construction activities and to help prevent serious injuries and illnesses within the industry through increased training and implementation & monitoring of enhanced safety & health training programs. This initiative represents a voluntary agreement and affords an OSP for voluntary compliance alternatives to the traditional OSHA enforcement activities. Associated General Contractors – Colorado Chapter (AGC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) believe that maintaining a focus on safety saves lives, time and dollars. The outcome of this focus can result in a reduction of employee injuries, illnesses, deaths, equipment damage, worker’s compensation and insurance cost, down times and monetary penalties.

The Construction Health and Safety Excellence (CHASE) model utilizes a 3-step program designed to assist general contractors with the implementation of their safety and health management systems. In CHASE, there are 3 tiers of safety and health performance, Red, White, and Blue. To achieve White or Blue-level status, contractors must implement practices that go above and beyond what OSHA requires. In return for meeting the various criteria, OSHA, after making a verification inspection will not target the site for a planned inspection within the following 12 months, among other benefits. This frees scarce OSHA resources from inspecting safe sites and lets contractors show owners that they are among the best in terms of health and safety.

Partnership Goals:

• To reduce by 3% annually the rate of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities affecting participant employers, 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)
• To increase 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
• To recognize those contractors with exemplary safety and health programs and effective site-specific safety and health plans

Participating Facility:

• Calcon Constructors, Englewood, Colorado
• Encore Electric, Englewood, Colorado
• Greiner Electric, Littleton, Colorado
• Haselden Construction, Centennial, Colorado
• Hyder Construction, Denver, Colorado
• Kenny Electric Service, Colorado Springs, Colorado
• M-Tech, Denver, Colorado
• PCL Constructors, Denver, Colorado
• Quality Contracting, Longmont, Colorado
• RK Mechanical, Denver, Colorado
• Saunders Construction, Centennial, Colorado
• Total Plumbing, Denver, Colorado
• Twin Peaks Utilities and Infrastructure, Westminster, Colorado
• West Electric Group, Englewood, Colorado

Partnership Results:
This OSP covers 14 employers and their 4,479 employees and subcontractors. During the 2010 evaluation period, the participating employers made progress. The total number of Blue Level contractors grew to nine, with four at the White level, and one at the Red level.

The participating contractors all provided training for its employees and management per the OSP’s requirements, and OSHA provided training on a variety of subjects such as dust, arc flash, and silica in addition to an annual review of most frequently cited standards for both in the state of Colorado and nationwide. Also, the safety council of the AGC chapter provided training on a monthly basis.

As a part of OSP verification requirements, all nine Blue partnering employers received enforcement inspections and all were in compliance with no citations issued.

In 2010, the aggregate Total Case Incidence Rate and Days Away, Job Restricted or Transferred rate of the participating employers at all levels were 68% and 76% below the industry average as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for NAICS code 238.