Masonry Magazine July 2005 Page. 20
SENATE TESTIMONY
Our goal here is information sharing and the resolution of interpretations and/or citations in a non-confrontational fashion.
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teaching OSHA officials about the practical applications of some of the standards they write and enforce such as scaffolding, fall protection, the overhand bricklaying exemption and other issues specific to our specialty trade.
By way of example, two years ago contractors in Florida and Massachusetts were cited for leaving materials on the scaffolding at the end of the work shift. The materials are left there for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it would be impossible to remove part of a pallet of bricks from the scaffolding without creating some very precarious and life-threatening problems. Moreover, many of these materials remain so the masons can simply pick up where they left off the previous day.
OSHA's strict interpretation of this standard would have forced contractors to bring laborers on the job site an hour prior to the start of a shift and pay them overtime to remove the materials at the end of the shift. This simply made no sense, and we met with the Directorate of Construction at OSHA to explain to them that they were actually creating more safety problems. OSHA ultimately issued a different interpretation to allow contractors to leave materials on the scaffolding without being cited. But it is this type of situation [that] could easily be avoided if we as contractors were allowed to offer very detailed training and guidance to agency officials, most of whom have very little hands-on construction experience.
While it may be the case that only the larger mason contractors would have the resources to make this Training Exchange Program work, every mason contracting company, small and large, would ultimately benefit. Our goal here is information sharing and the resolution of interpretations and/or citations in a non-confrontational fashion. The number one goal of any contractor is the health and safety of their workforce. If our industry is allowed to work more cooperatively with OSHA to help avoid the issuance of certain citations due to a lack of understanding about a particular provisions application, we will do a great service to the industry, the OSHA officials and the Administrative Law Judges who are already overwhelmed with work. It simply makes sense to have this type of collaborative structure in place.
The contractors and their employees will feel less threatened if they know OSHA has more knowledge and insight into the specifics of their trade. And the OSHA officials should be grateful for the knowledge they gain about an industry that contributes a tremendous amount of jobs and economic stability to our country.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to present these ideas to you today. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
For more information on the Training Exchange Program, please contact Marian Marshall at mimarshall@masoncontractors.org or call (703) 671-4468.
18
Masonry
July 2005
www.masoncontractors.org