OSHA begins weekend site inspection

The Problem Solving Initiative of Region VII authorizes weekend inspections of active construction work sites when violations related to falls, overhead power lines and scaffolds are observed during three randomly selected months this year.

Manuel Olmedo, director of OSHA’s Kansas City Area Office, said the policy applies in Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.

“We’re aware that a lot of companies do work on the weekends. We want to ensure that they’re following OSHA safety and heath guidelines during the weekends and not just during the week,” he said.

Olmedo added that OSHA does not know if injuries or fatalities have increased on the weekends, but OSHA statistics show half of the six fatalities in Region VII last year occurred on Saturdays.

April was the first month of weekend inspections. During that month, there were eight inspections, five in Missouri, two in Kansas and one in Nebraska. Half of the inspections found employers in compliance with OSHA standards, according to a report by the OSHA Region VII Falls Task Force.

Patty McFarland, program analysis for OSHA Region VII, said none of the weekend inspections were conducted in Springfield.

Targeting construction

The initiative is targeting the construction industry because it has the highest level of occupational injuries, and falls are the most common cause, Olmedo said.

From Oct. 1, 1998 to Dec. 31, 2004, 39 percent of the 678 fatal and catastrophic federal enforcement incidents in OSHA Region VII were in the construction industry, according to OSHA.

Of the incidents within the construction industry, 38 percent were caused by falls and 17 percent were caused by electrocutions. Of the 44 electrocutions, 31 percent contact with overhead power lines.

Also in that time, 15 percent of the fall, scaffold or overhead power line fatalities occurred on weekends, according to OSHA.

Matt Morrow, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield said how the initiative is enforced will shape his opinion of it.

“If it becomes a situation where OSHA inspectors are better able to keep jobs safe and construction sites are respected through the process, then there’s no real negative outcome to it,” Morrow said. “If, on the other hand, it becomes an excuse to go into sites that they otherwise weren’t going into, then you have a little bit of a problem.”

Education, prevention

Morrow said HBA always tries to promote safety at the workplace, both informally and through education programs.

HBA offers its 400 member companies seminars that focus on safety in the workplace. It also offers a 10-hour occupational safety and health training course in construction safety and health using OSHA consultants at Brittney Inc.

“The builders who are members here are very interested in keeping their job sites safe,” Morrow said. “That’s why they’ve proactively taken these courses to try to prepare themselves and do everything they can do and take every precaution they can take.”

HBA membership and safety training information is available at www.spring

fieldhba.com.

Another organization that helps companies come into compliance with OSHA through training is the Safety Council of the Ozarks. The Safety Council has an alliance with the area directors for OSHA in St. Louis, Kansas City and Little Rock, Ark., said Dan Snyder, director of occupational programs for the Safety Council.

The Safety Council helps companies devise safety management plans as well as comply with OSHA standards. Companies against whom OSHA has levied fines can turn to the Safety Council of the Ozarks for assistance with the abatement requirements, Snyder said.

Information and registration for seminars are available at www.nscozarks.org.