Please note: As of January 20, 2021, information in some news releases may be out of date or not reflect current policies.
News Brief
OSHA, The Builders’ Association renew ‘Build Safe Partnership Program’ to train, protect construction contractors from common workplace hazards
Technologies, Inc.; Phil Shoemaker, Safety, Health
& Environmental Services Director, The Builders’
Association; Bonita Winingham, Deputy Regional
Administrator, OSHA Region VII; David Hulse, Regional
Safety Director, JE Dunn Construction Company; Don
Greenwell, President, The Builders’ Association; Brian
Schrader, Safety Director, McCownGordon Construction;
Barbara Theriot, Area Director, OSHA Kansas City Area
Office; Dwayne Hartman, Senior Loss Control Consultant,
Risk Control Services, Lockton Companies, LLC; Jacalyn
Wheeler, Compliance Assistance Programs, OSHA Kansas
City Regional Office; and Todd Sieleman, OSHA Compliance
Assistance Specialist, OSHA Kansas City Area Office.
Participants: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, The Builders’ Association
Background: OSHA’s continuing partnership with the association, which represents more than 800 union and non-union construction companies throughout Missouri, eastern Kansas and parts of Nebraska, will emphasize reducing injury and illness in the top four construction industry hazards – falls, struck-by, caught-in/between and electrocutions. The initiative also places emphasis on training workers to recognize amputation and machine hazards at contractor-associated fabrication shops. These are among the most frequently cited OSHA violations.
The partnership will require all employers, contractors and sub-contractors to implement written safety and health programs, conduct training, job site inspections and involve workers in weekly site safety meetings. In addition, OSHA will review these programs at least annually to track and compare information on injury and illness rates, share best practices and review goals. The Builders Association will designate participating employers as “Build Safe Partnership Program” participants.
Originally signed Sept. 11, 2001, the partnership was last renewed on March 14, 2013. The new agreement was signed on March 24, and remains in effect for five years.
QUOTES: “We at OSHA are very pleased to renew our partnership with The Builders Association. Efforts like these improve workplace safety by fostering education and training for better teamwork and hazard prevention on the job site,” said Marcia Drumm, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City. “Together, we can help the association’s members to make worker safety a priority.”
“History often repeats itself unless we learn from it,” said The Builders Association President Don Greenwell. “By taking advantage of the Build Safe Partnership Program, our members can demonstrate that they ‘walk the walk’ when it comes to safety training and using a strategic approach to avoiding injury and the loss of lives.”
Through its Strategic Partnership Program, OSHA works with employers, employees, professional and trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders to establish specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health.