Newsline

On April 30, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it made an error regarding implementation of the 2016 Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule and determined all affected employers are required to submit injury and illness data in the Injury Tracking Application online portal, even if the employer is covered by a State Plan that has not completed adoption of their own state rule. 

ABC will be celebrating Construction Safety Week 2018, May 7-11, with an awareness campaign highlighting member achievements in safety performance and ABC’s commitment to achieving zero-incident jobsites. Visit constructionsafetyweek.com for advice on engaging your team with an event guide, toolbox talks, messages to share and more ideas to promote safety as an industry priority.  

To celebrate the National Safety Stand-down, May 7-11, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is providing several resources on preventing workplace hazards, including a webinar on fall prevention in the construction industry.

On March 2, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced that it will begin enforcement of the final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium in general, shipyard and construction industries on May 11, 2018. According to an OSHA news release, the enforcement date was previously set for March 12, 2018, but this new timeframe aims to ensure stakeholders are aware of their obligations and compliance to the final rule.

ABC announced the winners of the 2017 National Safety Awards at ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif. A total of 54 ABC member companies were recognized for their safety performance on March 21 during the 28th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards.

ABC released its 2018 Safety Performance Report to further the construction industry’s understanding of how to make jobsites safer through its Safety Performance Evaluation Process (STEP). Packed with infographics and practical takeaways, the report documents the dramatic impact of using proactive safety practices to reduce recordable incidents by up to 85 percent, making the best-performing companies 670 percent safer than the industry average.

ABC and the Board of Certified Safety Professionals signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on improving occupational safety and health at construction workplaces throughout the United States. The partnership is centered on developing effective prevention strategies and technologies as well as encouraging students and other professionals to choose occupational safety and health as a career and advance their competency in that field.

ABC is reminding its contractor member firms that their 2017 Occupational Safety and Health Administration Form 300A work-related injury and illness log summaries must be posted in a visible spot on all construction sites Feb. 1 through April 30.

Effective Jan. 2, the U.S. Department of Labor increased civil monetary penalties for violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and regulations. According to the OSHA website, the maximum penalty for other-than-serious, serious and failure to abate violations is now $12,934, and the maximum penalty for willful or repeat violations is $129,336.

On Dec. 19, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued several fact sheets that provide guidance on the respirable crystalline silica standard for construction. The fact sheets include an overview of the silica standard as well as provide information to help employers comply.