OSHA Reform

Posted @ Tuesday, January 1, 2013 12:48 AM by Taylor Larkin | Files in Public: Priority Issues,Public - Workplace Safety

OVERVIEW

It is ABC’s mission to ensure all of our construction workers get home in the same—or better— condition than when they arrived on the jobsite every day.

A culture of both physical and mental health and safety cannot exist without leadership taking a stand that includes an unwillingness to compromise safety and modeling this belief in their every action. Challenging and transforming the status quo to create a belief that all incidents are preventable creates a culture where safety is considered a moral obligation not just for leadership, but for all employees.

ABC understands the importance of common-sense regulations based on sound evidence and scientific analysis with appropriate consideration paid to implementation costs and input from employers. Many ABC companies have implemented safety programs that are among the best programs in the industry, often far exceeding legal requirements.

ABC is strongly committed to a collaborative effort between industry and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which will increase workplace safety and promote economic opportunity in the United States.

 ABC SUPPORTS:

  • Meaningful, constructive oversight of OSHA’s regulatory and enforcement agendas.
  • Ensuring that new and existing OSHA standards are as practical, performance-oriented and cost-effective as possible.
  • Restructuring the Occupational Safety and Health Act to codify collaborative approaches to education, training and technical assistance.
  • Fair and responsible inspection and enforcement policies, regardless of labor affiliation.
  • OSHA’s current approach of issuing industry-specific guidance based on the latest information available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the COVID-19 pandemic. Employers and employees alike are far better served by an approach that focuses on disseminating the latest information available and tailoring safety guidance to reflect the evolving understanding of COVID-19.
  • Providing statutory authority for the voluntary protection program within OSHA. Under the program, management, labor and OSHA must establish cooperative relationships at workplaces that have implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system.

ABC OPPOSES:

  • OSHA issuing a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard, when more than 100 million Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine, COVID-19 cases and hospitalization admissions have dramatically decreased, and states and localities are fully reopening for business across the nation. A rigid, one-size-fits-all standard is not an appropriate approach. OSHA’s resources are better deployed by developing timely and situational-specific guidance documents, which can be adjusted and adapted to the evolving situation of COVID-19.
  • Any legislation introducing anti-employer provisions to the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

UPDATE

Workplace safety and total human health are top priorities for ABC.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ABC has taken numerous steps to protect employees. ABC has published guidance, tools and resources to assist contractors in their health and safety efforts, which include:

  • Creating a COVID-19 Exposure Prevention Preparedness and Response Plan, as part of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, which provides a comprehensive approach for minimizing the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the construction work environment. The response plan has been made available in both English and Spanish and provided at no cost to the entire construction industry beginning in March 2020. CISC also updated the response plan four times to account for changes in guidance from CDC.
  • Organizing two safety stand-downs related to COVID-19, in April 2020 and January 2021, as part of CISC.
  • Creating the Safe and Healthy Construction Pledge, an industry-wide call to action to redouble construction jobsite safety commitments under new protocols due to the coronavirus pandemic. Open to all U.S. contractors and industry associations, the pledge calls for prevention, preparedness and response plans to prevent injuries and disease and safeguard total human health.
  • Developing emergency preparedness and safety resources for ABC members.

As the Biden OSHA moves forward with rulemakings and policies, ABC urges the agency to meaningfully engage with the public and provide an opportunity for public input regarding the best approaches to protecting workers and workplace safety.