The new administrator of the Occupation Safety and Health Administration spoke out earlier this month against measures that lead workers to hide workplace injuries. “Saying you have zero tolerance for injury is crazy,” said David Michaels, who is an assistant secretary of labor. If workers who report injuries are fired, they are not likely to come forward, he said, noting that because of this, “we don’t know what injury rates really are.” MICHAELS Michaels spoke at a June 16 construction business forum, co-sponsored by ENR and the Construction Users Roundtable, an owners group. More than 200 construction professionals and owners
A new study by the Hartford, Conn.-based non-profit organization Environment and Human Health Inc. took aim at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification process, saying the program does not adequately address human health needs, particularly those relating to indoor air quality. Related Links: View the Full Report Lead author John Wargo, a Yale University professor, said that although the LEED certification program effectively encourages energy efficiency in buildings, “tighter buildings often concentrate chemicals released from building materials, cleaning supplies, fuel combustion, pesticides and other hazardous substances.” The report makes several recommendations to help
Two groups have aligned to develop a nationally accredited exam for a construction professional called by many names: crane inspector, crane certifier, crane surveyor and so on. Not required by the federal government, such a credential is only mandatory in California, and recently, Washington state, which started enforcement this year. The states launched inspector tests after tower cranes collapsed in San Francisco in 1989 and Bellevue, Wash., in 2006. The Fairfax, Va.-based National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, which helped Washington develop its test, and the Vancouver-based Crane Certification Association of America�which administers a private exam to its
Nevada lawmakers on June 7 agreed on proposals for increased workplace safety penalties and enforcement after a string of construction deaths in 2007 and 2008 along the Las Vegas Strip grabbed national headlines. A state legislative subcommittee proposes higher fines, added state Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforcement authority, local or state attorney general investigation of workplace fatalities and mandatory family member notification on fatal accident findings. Six jobsite deaths within 18 months at the $8.5-billion CityCenter project led to a high-profile Southern Nevada Building Trades strike in 2008 that ended with mandatory 10-hour OSHA training, which Nevada since has
Almost four months after a deadly explosion halted work on a nearly $1-billion Connecticut powerplant under construction, developer Kleen Energy Systems LLC, Middletown, Conn., says the 620-MW gas-fired facility may be repaired and ready for operation next spring. But the U.S. Chemical Safety Board says it has found that “a disturbing number of companies” use the gas-blow pipe-cleaning process that led to the Feb. 7 explosion, which killed six workers and injured 50. Photo: U.S. Chemical Safety Board Kleen Energy Systems plant project, site of a fatal blast in February, could be completed by next spring, officials say. Gas blows
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration now has four crane-operator certification programs it formally recognizes, following an agreement with the National Center for Construction Education and Research, Gainesville, Fla. A signing ceremony for the OSHA-NCCER agreement was held on May 17. In March, OSHA finalized a similar agreement with The Crane Institute of America Certification Inc. OSHA’s first such crane-operator program agreement came in 1999, with the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators. The agency also signed an agreement in 2008 with the Operating Engineers Certification Program. Crane safety has become a priority for OSHA, the construction industry
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has expanded the list of organizations whose crane-operator certification programs it formally recognizes, with an agreement with the National Center for Construction Education and Research, Gainesville, Fla. Related Links: Ten Minutes With OSHA Chief David Michaels OSHA chief David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, and NCCER President Don Whyte signed the voluntary agreement on May 17 at the Dept. of Labor headquarters in Washington. In March, OSHA finalized a similar agreement with The Crane Institute of America Certification Inc. OSHA's first such crane-operator program agreement came in 1999, with
Investigators are looking into the cause of a crane-boom failure that killed a worker at the construction site of Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery on April 19. The worker killed has been identified as Stewart Wayne Shaver, 41, who was working for Beacon Construction, a subsidiary of Bechtel Corp. Francis Canavan, a spokesman for Bechtel, wouldn’t comment on the circumstances surrounding the incident, saying it was still under investigation. However, he did say the crane used was a Bechtel-owned Link-belt RTC-8090 Series II, a 90-ton rough-terrain crane. The refinery is undergoing a 325,000-barrel-per-day expansion by a joint venture of San Francisco-based
An administrative law judge ruled on April 5 that Southern Pan Services, Lithonia, Ga., formwork subcontractor, willfully broke federal safety rules while working on a 413-car parking garage in Jacksonville, Fla., which collapsed during a concrete pour in December 2007, killing a construction worker. Administrative Law Judge Ken S. Welsch determined Southern Pan removed building supports but neglected to follow engineers’ plans to leave the supports in place during construction. Welsch set the fine at $40,000, although federal safety officials had sought a fine of $132,000. An attorney for Southern Pan did not comment.
After nearly four years of legal challenges and revisions, contractors and unions face stiffer federal safety mandates after April 22 for lead-paint dust containment in homes and public facilities built before 1978 that are occupied by children under the age of seven. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says its Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule will reduce child lead-poisoning levels, but some construction groups are concerned about added cost for small contractors as well as insufficient worker training around the U.S. Union painters practice new lead-paint-abatement protection techniques. The rule, first proposed in 2006, requires renovation workers to be EPA-certified and
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