Report of the MCAA Safety Committee

Words: Zach Everett

Safety Forum Webinars

These webinars have continued in 2013 and will continue into 2014. We are always looking for volunteers to run a program so if you are interested, please contact the MCAA staff.

MCAA Safety Awards Program

The MCAA Safety Awards were presented at the mid-year meeting in Orlando. The winners for the greater than 100,000 hours were: First place - Stone Cold Masonry, Phoenix, AZ, Second Place — Brazos Masonry, Waco, TX, Less than 100,000 man hours were: First place: A. Horn, Inc, Chicago, IL, Second Place (tie) — Grant Contracting, Fenton, MO and Spencer Brickwork, Inc, St Louis, MO.

The Safety Advantage

The Safety Advantage Newsletter has been going out monthly this year and we are always in need of folks to write a very short column on the importance of safety in their company. It does not have to be long piece and can summarize what it means to your company. Please contact MCAA staff if interested.

SILICA Activity

As you are probably aware, OSHA has released their silica rule and it is currently under review and was open for public comment. The MCAA has been very active on this front. The MCAA joined the Construction Industry Safety Coalition earlier this summer and has had a very active role on the coalition, assuming a role on the steering committee this fall. The coalition has hired a law firm to assist in the questioning and addressing the rule. Jackson Lewis will be representing the coalition at the hearings and has requested 5 hours to testify. In addition, they have hired an economist to do an economic impact study specific to the construction industry. The MCAA has also filed an intent to appear and will likely have three representatives testify about the rule and its impact on our industry.

GHS Training

The MCAA rolled out a full kit on how to comply with the new training requirements for the GHS which was due December 1, 2013. The materials may be found at the MCAA web-site and everything needed to comply can be downloaded free of charge. There is a short video on the highlights of the program and a short test to prove training. Members should make sure they have this training in place as OSHA began looking for it on December 1.

New Reporting Rules

MCAA is closely following new reporting rules that OSHA plans to implement. The new rule would require employers with 20 or more employees to file their incident reports electronically with OSHA annually. These records would then become public record and access to the files to the public would be given. The MCAA has several concerns with this new rule. The first is that the records would become public. We feel all those records should remain private. The other concern we have is that OSHA will begin to utilize the records to target contractors for inspection. When questioned about this exact issue, OSHA would not confirm or deny it. Watch for more on this soon as this new rule may go into effect in 2014.
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