Background:

In December 2008, OSHA’s Philadelphia Area Office in Region III, Torcon, Inc., and the Building Trades of Philadelphia formed an OSHA Strategic Partnership (OSP) to promote safety and health during the construction of the new 55,000 square foot Samuels and Son Seafood processing facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Main goals of the OSP included attaining injury and illness rates that were below the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) national average for the construction industry and continue to reduce these rates annually by at least four percent during the project. Twelve employers participated in the OSP covering 250 employees. The construction project was successfully completed in July 2009.

Success Impact:

OSP Attains Zero Recordable Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities and Promotes Proactive Collaboration between Management and Labor

During the construction of the seafood processing facility, the OSP experienced a zero Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) and Days Away, Restricted, and Transferred (DART) rate. The table below presents the OSP’s injury and illness data during the course of the project and compares it to the 2007 BLS national average rates for the construction industry.

As part of the contract pre-bid qualifications and prior to work being initiated on this project, Torcon required that each subcontractor submit both corporate and project specific safety plans (including job safety analysis) for all major tasks associated with the scope of their work. Torcon also required that each site subcontractor provide an on-site competent person certifying that they had received an OSHA 10- and 30-hour construction course. Finally, each subcontractor was required to perform weekly tool box safety talks which also had to be submitted to the general contractor.

Torcon established weekly job site labor management meetings to review safety and health issues and institute corrective actions as needed. During the OSP, 34 of these meetings were conducted with an average of nine labor representatives attending each of the meetings. Torcon noted in its close-out meeting with the Philadelphia Area Office that strong support and buy-in from the Building Trades of Philadelphia was a key element to the success of the OSP.

Partnership Objectives:

Key objectives of the OSP were to: develop a government/contractor/labor collaboration that encourages construction contractors to improve their safety and health performance; strive for the elimination of serious accidents in the construction industry; and recognize contractors with exemplary safety and health management systems.

Origin: OSHA Region III, Philadelphia Area Office

Partners: Torcon, Inc. and the Building Trades of Philadelphia

Participants: Torcon, Inc., Costa & Rihl, Criniti Construction Co., Inc., Hatzel & Buehler, Newman Glass Works, B. Petrini & Sons, Inc., Tom Wentzel Co. Inc., Scott Building Corporation, State Refrigeration Services, ThyssenKrupp Elevator, Steel Fab, Inc., Perley-Halladay Associates, Inc.

Partnership Signed: December 2008

Industry Code Description (NAICS Code): Construction (236220)

Employees: 250+

Employers: 12

Source: James Touey, Compliance Assistance Specialist, Region III OSPP Coordinator