“OSHA, Allied Construction Industries Form Partnership To Improve Safety”

Construction workers’ safety and health in southwestern Ohio will be enhanced by a landmark partnership established this February by Allied Construction Industries, a trade association in Cincinnati, and the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The three-year agreement provides incentives for participating construction contractors to voluntarily improve their safety and health performance under strict guidelines set by the partnership. Employers who participate in the partnership will not be exempt from compliance with OSHA regulations and standards. OSHA will recognize contractors who have created exemplary safety programs. OSHA expects that the partnership will reduce the need for inspections of participating contractors.

OSHA’s Regional Administrator, Michael G. Connors, stated, “This is the first comprehensive partnership program recognized by OSHA in the Midwest, and is among the first comprehensive construction partnerships entered into by OSHA in the nation.”

Establishing partnerships with the private sector to improve safety and health is one of OSHA’s major goals. OSHA and Allied Construction Industries have worked closely in past years to promote innovative safety and health programs in the tri-state area. While participation in the partnership is voluntary, OSHA anticipates that contractors will experience a decrease in workplace accidents and illnesses, and a decrease in worker compensation costs.

“This partnership will help OSHA achieve its strategic goal to reduce injuries and illnesses in the construction industry,” said Cincinnati OSHA Area Director William M. Murphy. Murphy added that the partnership will significantly enhance worker safety by increasing employee training and encouraging employee involvement. The partnership will also allow OSHA to pinpoint problem worksites for regular inspections.

President Requests 11% Increase for OSHA in FY2001 Budget
The Clinton Administration has requested a $426 million budget for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in fiscal year 2001, a $44.4 million increase — or 11.6 percent more than the $381.6 million appropriated by Congress for the current fiscal year. The increase, according to Charles N. Jeffress, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, will enable OSHA to achieve better balance between its outreach activities, such as compliance assistance and training, and its enforcement activities, which in recent years have been targeted at high hazard worksites.

“The increase will improve our ability to provide expertise and services to both employers and employees,” says Jeffress. “The President’s budget request ensures that OSHA continues its 29-year history as a catalyst for improving workplace safety and health.”

Workplace fatalities have been slashed 50 percent, and injuries and illnesses have been cut 40 percent since OSHA was created in 1971, while the number of people employed has increased 116 percent.