Statement of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis onreported decline in workplace injuries and illnesses
The ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Safety Management Training Course (SMTC) provides attendees three days of training on the basic skills needed to manage a company safety program in the construction industry.The program builds on Focus Four training and prepares candidates to manage key safety issues on the job site and provides techniques for delivering basic safety training to field personnel.Participants will receive intenstive instruction and training that will allow them to return to their firms with readily aplicable new skills to positively impact their comapny' safety and health program. For details, please click on: http://www.agc.org/cs/safety_management_training_course
The Advanced Safety Management Training Course (ASMTC) is a unique three-day course, which will provide a high level training experience for safety professionals and company managers who have a solid background in construction safety and health. This course will enhance a participant's ability to manage all aspects of safety and health for their employees on field safety, insurance issues and legal and liability issues. The training will be available October 18-20, 2010 in Madison, WI. For details please go to the following link:http://www.agc.org/cs/event_details?eventId=2181.
________________________________________DOT has published a final rule effective October 1, 2010. Below is a summary of the rule, DATIA will provide the fully revised 49 CFR Part 40 in the September Red Book Update to all Red Book update subscribers. If you have not signed up for the update service, please do so here.1) The Department is required by the Omnibus Transportation Employees Testing Act (Omnibus Act) to follow the HHS requirements for the testing procedures/protocols and drugs for which we test.2) Primary laboratory requirements in this final rule include:- Testing for MDMA (aka. Ecstasy);- Lowering cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines;- Conducting mandatory initial testing for heroin;3) The Department brought several testing definitions in-line with those of HHS.4) Each Medical Review Officer (MRO) will need to be re-qualified - including passing an examination given by an MRO training organization - every five years. The Final Rule eliminated the requirement for each MRO to take 12 hours of continuing education every three years.5) An MRO will not need to be trained by an HHS-approved MRO training organization as long as the MRO meets DOT's qualification and requalification training requirements.6) MRO recordkeeping requirements did not change from the five years for non-negatives and one year for negatives.7) The Final Rule does not allow the use of HHS-Certified Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITFs) to conduct initial drug testing because the Omnibus Act requires laboratories to be able to perform both initial and confirmation testing but IITFs cannot conduct confirmation testing.Please note IITFs (Instrumental Initial Test Facilities) will NOT be incorporated into 49 CFR Part 40 as the Ominbus Act prohibits the DOT from from following HHS' new rule regarding IITFs. The Ominbus Act requires, "that all laboratories involved in the controlled substances testing of any individual under this isection shall have the capability and facillity, at such laboratory, of performing screening and confirmation tests. Since IITFs do not have any confirmation testing capabilities, the Department must not use them in part 40."
WASHINGTON - OSHA published today a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise regulations covering the agency's On-site Consultation Program.The changes will provide the agency greater flexibility for inspecting worksites that are undergoing an on-site consultation visit and those that are granted Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) status, as well as ensure enhanced worker safety.The proposed changes include clarifying the Assistant Secretary's authority to identify sites that will be inspected, even if those sites are normally exempt because of their SHARP status. For example, when workplace accidents occur that generate widespread public concern about a hazard or substance, such as diacetyl or combustible dust, the Assistant Secretary may require that OSHA respond to these hazards by inspecting all sites within a specific industry.Another proposed change would add referrals as a basis to terminate an employer's on-site consultation visit and conduct an enforcement visit. Referrals are allegations of potential workplace hazards or violations from state or local health departments, media, and other sources. The proposal maintains current procedures that allow enforcement visits to terminate an on-site consultation visit or SHARP status based on an imminent danger, fatalities or catastrophes, and complaints from workers.OSHA is also proposing to revise the existing initial exemption from programmed inspections of up to two years with an extension of up to three years for employers who have achieved SHARP status to one year with an extension of up to another year.Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted by November 2, 2010. Individuals may submit comments at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Comments may also be submitted by mail or hand delivery to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket Number OSHA-2010-0010, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. Submissions not longer than 10 pages may be faxed to the OSHA Docket Office at 202-693-1648.For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld OSHA's multi-employer citation policy in a reversal of a decision the Commission made during the previous administration. Under the policy, OSHA inspectors may cite employers on multi-employer worksites for violations that do not expose their own workers to occupational hazards. For example, a general contractor who controls the worksite may be responsible for violations created by a subcontractor whose workers are exposed to safety or health hazards. In reaching its Aug. 19 decision,* the Commission agreed with an earlier decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had rejected the Commission's previous contrary view that employers are only legally responsible for protecting the safety and health of their own workers. The case under consideration involved Summit Contractors Inc., a general contractor constructing an apartment complex in Lebanon, Pa., in 2005. An OSHA compliance officer cited Summit for a safety violation after observing workers of a subcontractor using electrical equipment that lacked ground fault circuit interrupters and which had been brought onto the worksite by Summit.For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.
On August 31, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration published interim final rules that will help protect workers who voice safety, health, and security concerns. The regulations, which establish procedures for handling worker retaliation complaints, allow filing by phone as well as in writing and filing in languages other than English. To view the complete rule click here. The regulations, which cover workers filing complaints in the railroad, public transit, commercial motor carrier, and consumer product industries, also create greater consistency among various OSHA complaint procedures. The interim final rules establish procedures and time frames for handling complaints under the whistleblower sections of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. These regulations are effective immediately. Comments must be submitted by Nov. 1, 2010, and can be sent to www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or by mail or fax.OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the OSH Act and 18 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various commercial motor carrier, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, railroad, public transportation, securities, and health care reform laws. New fact sheets on these statutes and additional information will be available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.For questions and comments, please contact Kevin Cannon at cannonk@agc.org.
In 1998, OSHA's expert Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) established a workgroup to develop recommended changes to the current standard for cranes and derricks. In December 1999, ACCSH recommended that the Agency use negotiated rulemaking to develop the rule. The Cranes and Derricks Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (C-DAC) was convened in July 2003 and reached consensus on its draft document in July 2004. In 2006, ACCSH recommended that OSHA use the C-DAC consensus document as a basis for OSHA's proposed rule, which was published in 2008. Public hearings were held in March 2009, and the public comment period on those proceedings closed in June 2009. Details on the changes to the final rule from the proposed rule are available here.
Department of Labor Publishes Final Rule Regulating Cranes and Derricks in Construction