By Daniel C. Brown

Instead of always being the industry's police force, these days the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) wants to form partnerships with contractors and their associations. To do so, it has begun setting up OSHA Strategic Partnership Programs (OSPP) with a number of state and local construction trade associations around the country. Such agreements aim to improve job safety and health while allowing OSHA to use its resources more efficiently.

For underground construction, one of the country's first OSPP agreements was signed in the fall of 2003 by the directors of the Underground Contractors Association (UCA) of Illinois and the state's four OSHA area directors. Under the pact, participating contractor-members agree to inspect themselves, acquire training for their workers, and make safety records available to OSHA. For its part, OSHA agrees to annually limit random onsite inspections to no more than 10% of participating companies. In addition, OSHA will not issue citations to participating companies for "other-than-serious items that are abated immediately or in the presence of a compliance officer."

If cited by OSHA, participating companies will be offered a reduction in penalty of 40%. Also if cited by OSHA, all participating companies may receive the maximum allowable good-faith discount of 25%, as well as any other penalty reduction factors that might be available.

How It Started

"I believed a partnership with OSHA would be a positive approach to improving job-site safety," says Larry Keefe Sr., chairman of the UCA Safety Committee and president of tunneling contractor LJ Keefe Company in Mt. Prospect, IL. "My interest in the OSPP was initiated while I was a member of the National Utility Contractors Association's [NUCA] safety committee. It was pretty clear that the OSPP would be difficult to manage on a national level, so I approached the idea with UCA of Illinois.

"Unfortunately OSHA has been perceived by many as a policeman," observes Keefe. "As contractors, we need to move into a different position with OSHA. This partnership agreement is an open cooperative effort to do that and achieve a better safety record for all of us."

As of December 2003, three UCA contractors - Keefe, Glenbrook Excavating and Concrete Inc. of Prairie View, IL, and Thelen Sand and Gravel Inc. of Antioch, IL - had signed up to participate, and several more had requested documentation.

Diane Turek, OSHA area director based in Des Plaines, IL, served as the driving force in the two years it took to achieve the statewide pact. "We were approached by UCA," says Turek. "Dave Benjamin, UCA's executive director, and Larry Keefe came to us and said they would like to partner with us to reduce injuries and illness - and of course we couldn't refuse.

"I think the significance of this agreement is that now we can take a proactive approach by government and industry to reduce injuries and illness, eliminate hazards, and train employees," continues Turek. "Trenching and excavation are one of the most dangerous sectors of construction, and this OSPP opens the door for dialogue to resolve issues that might arise."

At NUCA, Vice President of Safety George Kennedy says the national association is working to form an alliance with OSHA to improve communication and education. As of December 2003, however, it wasn't yet official. Kennedy was "hoping to finalize it by the end of the year." Regarding whether other NUCA chapters might follow UCA's lead, he relates, "Some of the chapters might jump on the bandwagon. It has to be done locally. It's a good way to improve communications."

"Some people might rightfully say that an individual contractor can negotiate a reduction in penalties," adds Benjamin. "But as a group, you have more bargaining power to negotiate with OSHA on citation matters, and this partnership goes beyond citations to include training. Plus, we're providing participating contractors with a marketing value at no cost; the administration of this program is free to our members."

Dangers Underground

Benjamin says 95% of OSHA citations are received by companies with fewer than 200 employees. The vast majority of UCA members also have fewer than 200 employees. "We're working on the most significant problems," notes Benjamin. "And those occur in seven types of hazards at companies with fewer than 200 people."

Pledging to "significantly reduce or eliminate exposures to them," the Illinois OSPP lists the seven types of hazards:

• Falls
• Confined-space entry hazards
• Electrocution
• Trenching hazards
• Struck-by hazards and other caught-between hazards
• Silica and other respiratory hazards
• Utility damage

The partnership only covers underground construction activities performed by participating companies in Illinois. UCA has 120 contractor members and 130 associate members in the state.

Other goals stated in the agreement, which are to be achieved over its three-year term, are listed as follows:

• Reduce by 5% the aggregate incidence rate of participating companies for workplace injuries and illnesses involving lost or restricted workdays and eliminate fatalities for participating companies
• Annually increase by 5% the number of UCA contractors and associate members that implement effective safety programs
• Increase by 5% the number of construction companies that implement aggressive training efforts for their employees

"This allows us to police ourselves to make sure we're in compliance," explains Benjamin. "We're going to train ourselves in OSHA standards and comply with them ourselves." Indeed one of the agreement's stated goals is to allow OSHA to focus resources on employees who require its assistance rather than on participating companies that have demonstrated effective safety programs.

Gaining Trust

The biggest hurdle in achieving OSPP participation is gaining the trust of contractors, says Charles Shields, OSHA area director in North Aurora, IL. "There's a fear of OSHA out there. The biggest hurdle is to overcome that fear. And that's also one of the greatest benefits: the trust and the relationship with OSHA."

On that point, Benjamin says, "Some companies are concerned that by joining this partnership, they will draw attention to their construction projects. And the comeback is that if you have well-trained people and run a good safety program - plus [enlist] the services of the third-party safety director we have hired - you're not drawing attention in a negative way. You're spotlighting yourself in a positive way."

To help execute the agreement and provide ongoing consulting, UCA has named ATR Global Inc. the third-party safety director. With an office in Chicago, IL, ATR will oversee compliance of participating companies and coordinate the transfer of information about progress under the program to OSHA on a quarterly basis.

"If a contractor signs on, he has to turn over an OSHA 300 record log of accidents and injuries," says Allen Gerhard, ATR's vice president of operations. "Every 30 days, the participating company must either get an independent consultant to provide a safety audit or do that audit internally. And within one year of the agreement, participating employers must have trained all employees with OSHA's 10-hour construction safety course."

Participating contractors must submit an OSPP application certifying that a comprehensive written safety and health program in currently in effect for the company's employees. That program must be identical or substantially similar to the UCA Safety and Risk Management Program; OSHA's Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines of January 26, 1989; a certain safety program published by American National Standards Institute; or another program that meets the standards of one of those three named.

"David [Benjamin] and I meet with association members to provide details of the agreement, face to face," says Gerhard. "I give the association 10 hours a month free of charge, and members can use us for training or audits. We offer a substantially reduced hourly rate to UCA members."

Concludes Benjamin, "This partnership was created by contractors, insurance-company loss-prevention managers, and construction-company safety directors, all working to produce an agreement that is good for their industry and its employees. We think the benefits far outweigh any perceived risks."

Daniel C. Brown is a frequent contributor to Grading & Excavation Contractor.

GEC - March/April 2004