INTRO TO OSHA
The OSH Act of 1970
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
formalized enforcement of the Contract Work Hours
and Safety Standards Act of 1962, P.L.87.581, better
known as the Construction Safety Act. While the OSH
Act of 1970 applied to general industry as a whole, the
Construction Safety Act of 1962, and amended in 1969,
applied specifically to the construction industry. The
elements of the Construction Safety Act, as amended,
were included and covered in the OSH Act of 1970.
Enforcement of the standards related to the ACT are
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Labor, United
States Department of Labor.
HISTORY OF SAFETY
Public opinion and the effects of changing times were the driving
forces behind the OSH Act. During the industrial revolution
accidental deaths and maimings were considered a cost of
advancement. Any job related injury was considered by
management to be a result of carelessness on the part of the
employee. Management's attitude toward safety was simple; it was
the employee's responsibility to work safely and prevent accidents.
That attitude* prevailed as late as 1893 when the Railway Safety
Act was being contemplated. Management's philosophy at the time
was typified by the saying that it was cheaper to bury someone
killed in a train accident than it was to put air brakes on railroad
cars.
• Even court decisions at that time were consistent with
management's attitude. The burden of proof that the employer was
negligent lay with the claimant, and there were very few cases in
which the claimant was awarded damages for occupational related
injuries. Those attitudes began to change at the turn of the
twentieth century
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The Worker's Compensation Act, although initially regarded
as a form of "no fault" insurance, began to place the costs of
accidents on the back of the employer through the payment of
premiums. Although the philosophical reasons for the causes of
accidents remained unchanged for the time being, the costs of those
accidents were being shifted.
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The mine safety and Health Act and the Construction Safety
Act of the 1960's were clear indications that the burden of
responsibility for accidents had shifted to the employer and away
from the employee.
Is Construction Inherently
Dangerous?
For many years the responsibility for safety was
considered to be the individuals responsibility.
Nearly everyone believed that construction was so terribly
dangerous that nothing could be done to change it.
Construction estimates actually contained line items for
costs of employee fatalities.
buildings
dams
Have these attitudes changed?
Yes, we no longer build fatality costs into our
estimates!
Construction accounts for approximately 6% of
employment nationwide but nearly 20% of all
employment fatalities.
SIZE OF COMPANIES WITH
CONSTRUCTION FATALITIES
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1 - 10 employees
11 - 25 employees
26 - 100 employees
>100 employees
46%
19%
17%
19%
What Can Be Done?
First, we need an attitude change in the industry.
Even many of the larger firms who have nationwide
operations are having safety problems.
This is due, in part, to the attitude about safety exhibited
by many of our sub and sub-subcontractors, as well as
many general contractors.
It is also due, in part, to an unusual attitude about OSHA
What is OSHA?
OSHA stands for the “Occupational Safety
and Health Administration” which is part
of the U. S. department of Labor.
OSHA is the Federal agency which has
oversight for worker safety and health in
the United States and Territories
• OSHA is responsible for the
promulgation and enforcement of
standards to protect workers.
• The standards that affect the
construction industry are the CFR Part
1926 standards.
• The standards that affect general
industry are the CFR Part 1910
standards.
How OSHA Works
When the OSH Act of 1970 (Public Law
91-596) was first enacted, each state was
granted the right to establish their own
safety and health program. Those states
with their own programs are referred to
as “State Program States. Those states
that elected not to establish their own
programs come under federal
jurisdiction and are referred to as
Federal Program States.
Construction Employers in Federal program
States must follow the 1926 standards in
protecting the safety and health of their
employees.
Enforcement of the standards in these states are
carried out by Federal Compliance Safety and
Health Officers.
These states are required to provide
consultative services to the construction
employers.
Construction employers in State Program
states are required to follow the 1926
standards, as amended by the state
program.
Enforcement of the standards in these
states are carried out by State
Compliance Safety and Health Officers.
Safety saves lives and money.
• Somehow we need to get the word out that there are
some direct correlations between, safety, productivity,
quality, money and lives.
• Managers in the industry need to understand that safety
does affect their bottom line and in an industry that has
a business failure rate as high as ours, that
understanding is critical to owners and contractors
alike.
The cost of worker’s compensation is often
as much as a company’s payroll for
certain classifications of employees
Worker’s compensation insurance was
developed to provide a form of “no-fault”
insurance for industrial injuries
• guaranteed payment to employee
• Exclusive Remedy for the employer
Worker’s Comp premiums are based upon:
• Manual rate (often called the Base Rate)
• Experience Modification Rate
The General Duty Clause
The General Duty Clause, Section 5 (A) (1) of the Act,
states that "Each Employer shall furnish to each of his
employees employment and a place of employment
which are free from recognized hazards that are
causing or likely to cause death or serious physical
harm to his employees." It is the General Duty Clause
of the Act which provides non-specific protection for
employees when specific regulations cannot be cited
from the standards. The General Duty Clause, and its
broad general interpretation, place the responsibility
for job site safety squarely on the back of the
construction employer.
29 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR) Part 1926
CFR 1926 is a composite of the standards
which affect the construction industry. These
standards were written by many diverse groups
of experts representing various segments of the
industry. They codify and set forth the safety
and health standards promulgated by the
Secretary of Labor under Section 107 of the
Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards
Act (The Construction Safety Act).
29 CFR 1926 consists of 24 separate
areas of standards called Subparts
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Subpart A
Subpart B
Subpart C
Subpart D
Subpart E
Subpart F
Subpart G
Subpart H
Subpart I
Subpart J
General
General Interpretations
General Safety and Health Provisions
Occupational Health and Environmental Controls
Personal Protective and Life Saving Equipment
Fire Protection and Prevention
Signs, Signals, and Barricades
Material Handling, Storage, Use, and Disposal
Tools - Hand and Power
Welding and Cutting
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Subpart K
Subpart L
Subpart M
Subpart N
Subpart O
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Subpart P
Subpart Q
Subpart R
Subpart S
and
Subpart T
Subpart U
Subpart V
Subpart W
Subpart X
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Electrical
Scaffolding
Fall Protection
Cranes, Derricks, Hoists, Elevators, and Conveyors
Motor Vehicles, Motorized Equipment, and Marine
Operations
Excavations
Concrete and Masonry Construction
Steel Erection
Underground Construction, Caissons, Cofferdams,
Compressed Air
Demolition
Blasting and Use of Explosives
Power Transmission and Distribution
Rollover Protective Structures; Overhead Protection
Ladders and Stairways
A Vertical and Horizontal
Standard
29 CFR Part 1926 can best be described a both a vertical and a
horizontal standard. It is vertical in the sense that some standards,
such as Subparts A, B, and C, are general conditions which apply
to all of the other Subparts throughout Part 1926. Other Subparts,
such as Subpart J, Welding and Cutting, apply only to specific
areas, but are very technical about those areas. This type of
standard is referred to as a horizontal standard.
• Some of the Subparts can likewise be both vertical and horizontal.
Subpart L, Scaffolding, for example, has general conditions that
apply to all types of scaffolding (vertical) and then has standards
that apply exclusively to particular types of scaffold (horizontal).
Using the Standard
The Standard is indexed alpha-numerically with each Subpart and
heading indexed numerically. Subpart A-General is indexed as
1926.1 while Subpart P-Excavations is indexed as 1926.650. Major
headings within each Subpart are also indexed numerically. For
example 1926.352 represents the heading Fire prevention, under
Subpart J-Welding and Cutting. If one turns to 1926.352, they note
that only the heading "Fire prevention" is beside the number.
Immediately following is the first paragraph, which starts with (a).
Subparagraphs within the paragraphs are labeled numerically
again (i.e., (1)), and listings within those subparagraphs are small
case Roman Numeral (i.e., (i)). If one were to find 1926.353
(c)(1)(ii) in the standard, it would read "Lead base metals;".
Employer Responsibility
Pursuant to the requirements of the
General Duty Clause, 1926.21 (b) (2)
requires that the “Employer shall
instruct each of his employees in the
recognition and avoidance of unsafe
conditions and the regulations applicable
to his work environment to control or
eliminate any hazards or other exposure
to illness or injury”.
1926.20 (b) establishes the requirement
for the employer to establish and
maintain a (safety) program for the
prevention of accidents and illness in the
workplace.
Competent Person
The employer is also responsible for the use
and training of competent persons as
required throughout the standards.
A competent person is defined in 1926.32 (f) as
“one who is capable of identifying existing
and predictable hazards in the surroundings
or working conditions which are unsanitary,
hazardous, or dangerous, to employees, and
who has authorization to take prompt
corrective measures to eliminate them.”
Inspections, Violations, and Fines
1926.3(a) of the Standard states that "...the
Secretary of Labor or any authorized
representative shall have a right of entry to any
site of contract performance for..." the purpose
of carrying out inspections and investigations.
The OSH Act stipulates that these inspections
and investigations shall be conducted during
normal working hours except in extreme cases.
Random selection for inspections is becoming
increasingly more common. For many years, especially
during the Regan Administration, funding for OSHA
was cut. There has been an increasing emphasis on
occupational safety since the early 1990's, however.
This increased emphasis has come about as a result of
several recent disasters both in construction and
general industry. The fire at Hamlet, North Carolina, in
which 26 people were killed on the job in 1991, and
similar instances in other states where buildings have
collapsed while under construction, have spurred
funding to cooperating state OSHA agencies. In 1980 it
was estimated that a construction company's chances of
being inspected was equivalent to about once every 300
years. Some states now are planning to visit every
major construction site once a year.
An inspection of the workplace may occur for any
one of several reasons:
• The site was selected as part of a general schedule of inspections.
Construction inspections are currently scheduled on a computer
generated, random selection basis, from information furnished the
government by F.W.Dodge.
• An employee, former employee, or employee representative has
filed a formal complaint about workplace conditions. Individuals
such as competitors have no official standing to file a complaint.
• OSHA has received a report of a fatality, multiple injury accident,
or imminent danger situation. The inspection should be limited to
investigation of the accident or imminent danger situation.
• A referral has been made by a previous OSHA inspector
technically referred to as a Compliance Safety and Health Officer
(CSHO).