Cooperative Approach to Safety

Cooperative Relationship Between the Construction Industry and OSHA Promotes a Safe and Healthy Work Environment

Background:

  • AGC and its member companies have long led the way in improving safety on the worksite and ensuring the safety and health of the construction workforce. Business learning from regulators is a very positive and proactive approach to obtaining the goal of increased safety and health on the worksite. The "carrot and the stick" approach is a balanced way of trying to achieve more safety. Unfortunately, Congress is considering legislation that would change the nature of the relationship the industry has with OSHA from one that emphasizes a cooperative approach to improving safety, to one that would be adversarial and turn back the clock on years of progress.

AGC Message:

  • Cooperative Programs are a Proven Way to Improve Workplace Safety. Employers participating in OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP), Alliances, Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), and the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) among others have resulted in higher quality employer safety and health programs with resultant decreases in injuries, illnesses, and fatalities while working together with both their employees and OSHA. These programs affect the agency's ability to encourage and advise those employers who strive for excellence in their safety and health management systems. Contractors participating in cooperative programs have reported that they were able to improve their safety program and avert potentially disastrous hazards on their job sites by implementing recommended controls and taking the training provided by AGC and pass it along to all their employees. Ensuring the continued success of Cooperative Programs while also focusing enforcement action on bad actors will continue to improve safety across the nation while best utilizing OSHA's resources.
  • OSHA Must Have an Even-Handed Approach to Ensure the Safety of Construction Workers Across the Nation. With an even-handed approach OSHA is able to recognize employers who are committed to protecting their employees while they continuously strive to improve their safety and health management systems and provide more focus on enforcement on those egregious violators of safety and health on job sites. Focusing only on increased civil and criminal fines and penalties against employers does not address the primary cause for accidents, injuries, and fatalities on job sites. Rather than placing an emphasis on fines and penalties for employers, OSHA and MSHA must educate the industry about the tools and assistance that the agencies provide to ease the burden of compliance for safety and health regulations.