U.S. Department of Labor Enters Partnership to Promote Safety During Demolition of Two Missouri Coal-Fired Power Plants

KANSAS CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Brandenburg Industrial Service Company have signed a strategic partnership to promote worker safety and health during the demolition of the Montrose and Sibley Generating Stations in Clinton and Sibley, Missouri. Both coal-fired powered plants ceased operations in 2018.

As part of OSHA’s Strategic Partnership Program, the agreement will focus on demolition hazards, including hazardous material abatement, and decommissioning and demolition of the main plants, associated plant equipment, buildings, and structures. The agreement will also focus on civil work required to return the site to a level condition at the conclusion of demolition. 

Partnership goals include training, implementing best work practices, enhancing safety and health programs, and complying with applicable OSHA standards and regulations. The partnership will target common construction hazards, such as falls, electrical safety, struck-by, caught in/between, trenching/excavations, asbestos, respirable crystalline silica, lead, noise and cranes. 

The following organizations are joining OSHA and Brandenburg Industrial Service in the partnership:

• Evergy Inc.;
• Laborers International Union of North America, Local 264;
• Laborers International Union of North America, Local 663; and
• International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 101.

Brandenburg Industrial Service will implement a safety and health program for the site patterned after OSHA’s “Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs in Construction,” and require all workers to attend a jobsite safety orientation. Partners and contractors on site will also participate in daily toolbox talks and the upcoming OSHA National Fall Safety Stand-Down. They will also conduct monthly audits to exchange information on hazards identified and best practices, and promote worker participation in safety and health programs.

Through the 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.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov/.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.