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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA).
Term Paper ID:30097
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Essay Subject:
Impact of OSHA on the homebuilding industry.... More...
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9 Pages / 2025 Words
6 sources, 8 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Impact of OSHA on the homebuilding industry. Safety requirements. Construction standards for the industry. OSHA's role as a "partner" with home building companies, analyzing all safety procedures. Fines for non-compliance. Management requirements and purpose of dealing with OSHA. Need for a safety plan for building projects that meet OSHA code.
Paper Introduction:
OSHA Safety Management Requirements and
Their Impact on Homebuilding
Introduction
The act of building a single unit dwelling for any company is a time consuming as well as equipment and materials consuming activity. Both of these broad areas must be micromanaged to achieve maximum efficiency that always translates into maximum profits. To ensure that the management of both time and materials is not done with any jeopardy to human safety, the United States has created an office with great responsibility and great power -- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Of course, OSHA’s primary responsibility is the health and safety of all workers in all career fields, but most experts agree that there a
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Theexpense can be based on fines or suspension of construction permits,withdrawal of financing, high insurance cost increases based on accidentsor deaths, and unpredicted cost overruns to change a procedure so that itcan come up to code (Eckhardt. Thesecond is that having a safety plan creates awareness among all managers,foremen, supervisors, workers, and sub contractors, which safety is aprimary concern, and that no shortcuts of any type will be tolerated. If the company is found in violation ofany of these practices, this "partner" can close the company down until theviolation is fixed. (1999), Construction Site Safety: A Guide for ManagingContractors, Houston: Lewis Publishers, Inc. Since a complete OSHA inspection can take a full day or more(and they are not single events but can happen at any time) and since theregulations cover more than 5 , events that could happen at ahomebuilding site, the possibility of the inspector not seeing a flaw or anerror is great. On average 14 result in permanent disabilities and 75 in death.Cave-in deaths account for almost 1% of all work-related deaths in Americaeach year. Under OSHA, foundation excavation work is considered dangerous; no oneyounger than 18 is allowed to do it or even assist, so that requires strongage checking by management. Assume that the primary constructioncompany, the one that has obtained the licenses and the permits, follows1926.3 1 to the letter, and that hand tools are inspected on a regularbasis. The only thing that canreally be said about OSHA regs is that it is expensive to ignore them. Hislop, R.D. Reading through these regulations,it becomes apparent that many of these regulations are common-sense, andmany are arcane -- or seem to be (Stirton, 2 ). If theprimary contractor makes it known in writing and in action that theconstruction site follows every OSHA ruling vigorously, and that it expectsall subcontractors to follow them also, down to and including toolmaintenance and repair, then there is a "trickle down effect" and sooneveryone in the local construction community knows that Company X plays byall of the rules. Insulation, Roofing, Foundations, and so on) adhere tothe OSHA guidelines. Granted, adherence to all of the OSHA standards on a constructionsite require a great deal of time, attention, and expense. Preparing A Safety Plan This is a major management requirement, and one that should not beleft to the last minute. (2 , June), Construction safety: The times they are achanging, Time Line. Most safety plans are in the 15 -2 page range, and most expertsrecommend that they be in loose-leaf binders for easy changing of pageswhen new regulations or policies come into effect. This is the strategy most often used, and the odds are in favor of thecontractor. Butassume that a sub-contractor comes on site for some dry wall work, and thatsub-contractor has tools that are in violation of 1926.3 1. Safety plans can be written in a variety offormats and all plans vary in length, depending on the project, extent ofcustomer requirements, number of employees on the site, and anticipatedhazards (O'Brien, 1989). Thatpartner is OSHA, and OSHA has the right to come onto the construction siteany time that it chooses, unannounced, and analyze all of the safetyprocedures in place and on paper. There must be evidence that a formal evaluation of soil conditions wasmade (1926 Subpart P Appendix A] and on this basis, that appropriateprotective systems including work assignments and protective wear aredocumented [1926 Subpart P Appendix F]. Request a variance that would allow the 3 inch rails to remain, a time-consuming job and one that seldom results in a variance. (1989), Construction Inspection Handbook, Third Edition,New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold OSHA, online at http://www.osha.gov Stirton, L. However, thereis no indication that OSHA will go away. OSHA Safety Management Requirements and Their Impact on Homebuilding Introduction The act of building a single unit dwelling for any company is a timeconsuming as well as equipment and materials consuming activity. Indeed, worldwide, many nationsare sensing the challenges of establishing solid and sane safety proceduresfor the construction industry. This is because when an OSHAinspector comes on site, the first document that he or she asks to see,even before the permits, is the Official Safety Plan. The purpose of this increased surveillance is due to the constructionindustry's high injury and death rate. References: Eckhardt, B. At a minimum, this is what OSHArequires for excavation safety. Since management is responsible for any external damages caused byexcavation work, there must be evidence on filt that the company safetymanager contacted utilities (gas, electric) to locate underground lines,planned for traffic control if necessary, determined proximity tostructures that could affect choice of protective system. Is the subcontractor at fault, or the primary contractor. The construction industry is the latest target for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2 , Nov.1), Effective construction site safety plans,Concrete Products, 12. Management Requirements of Dealing With OSHA The first management requirement is to become aware of the multipleregulations established and enforced by OSHA. Adjust the guardrails so that they are longer. Managers must also be aware that all of theregulations regarding shoring and excavations (Subpart P, 1926.65 +) areopen-ended, meaning that they are written in such a way as to allow forwide variances regarding interpretation and enforcement. No. There is much discussion about the fairness or appropriateness of theOSHA regulations, including the sometimes heavy fines levied againstcontractors and developers for not adhering to the regulations (Hislop,1999). If, for example, the OSHAcode calls for 36-inch guard rails on scaffolding, and a company has 3 inch guard rails, that would be a violation, and the management team nowhas three strategic options. Then that company is in compliance with that part of OSHA. These can be found innumerous books and publications, and all of these are also listed andpublished for free on the OSHA website. (b) Wrenches, including adjustable, pipe, end, and socket wrenches shall not be used when jaws are sprung to the point that slippage occurs. The first, naturally,is to be able to comply with OSHA, and therefore stay in business. 2 ). Sometimes. (2 , Feb. The key mandatory requirements of this section is that there be A)General Safety and Health Provisions (Subpart C, 1926.2 ), B) SafetyTraining and Awareness (Subpart C, 1926.21) and C) First aid and medicalattention Subpart C, 1926.24-25). Those contractors will be subject to what OSHA calls "wall-to-wall inspections" once the agency analyzes the data, to be collected in 2 2 (Hoover, 2 , 14). Now, consider this scenario. The purpose of the Safety Plan is to two fold. Translated into plain management English, that paragraph means thatthe home building company has a partner, and not a very silent one. Hoover, K. (c) Impact tools, such as drift pins, wedges, and chisels, shall be kept free of mushroomed heads." (OSHA, Online). The agency's proposed budget for next year includes $1 million to develop a survey that will identify contractors with above-average injury rates. This is where the responsibility is passed on down the line. . Now assumethat that is the day when an OSHA inspector comes on site, and he or shediscovers the hand tools that are in violation. Is it an effective management technique to try togamble the odds and assume that a project can be done before OSHA shows up?Of course not, but this final act is done every day. However However, there is a great drive to tighten up regulations andinspections as construction site injuries increase. Since a variance can take up to six months, and the odds are that the regulation will stand anyway, this option is basically useless. Inthat opening, we find, It shall be a condition of each contract which is subject to section 1 7 of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act that the Secretary of Labor or any authorized representative shall have a right of entry to any site of contract performance for the following purposes: (a)(1) To inspect or investigate the matter of compliance with the safety and health standards contained in Subpart C of this part and following subparts; and (a)(2) To carry out the duties of the Secretary under section 1 7(b) of the Code (29 CFR 1926). But is it practical for the contractor to completely inspect every handtool of every sub contracted worker before the day begins? The powers of OSHA are set out quite clearly at the beginning of thepublication, SELECTED CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS (SCOR) FOR THE HOME BUILDINGINDUSTRY (29 CFR 1926) available in full text on line at www.osha.gov. 24 Does this partner care that closing down the company could throw lotsof people out of work, wreak havoc with construction schedules, and alsopotentially put the construction company in default? . (a) Employers shall not issue or permit the use of unsafe hand tools. The beginning ofthis plan should contain language pertaining to the construction company,its safety record, and its policies for making sure that all subcontractors(Engineering, HV/AC. As a word of caution, the regulators at OSHA, traditionally are notflexible in their variances (Eckhardt, 2 ). 11), OSHA targets construction companies,Business Journal O'Brien, J.J. Hope that the OSHA inspector will look the other way and ignore the oversight. A cubic yard of earth weighs as much as a small car (OSHAOnline). Forinstance, Reg. The recommendations that OSHA puts out, primarily in Part 1926,Safety and Health Regulations for Construction, a subpart of Standards 29CFR. In fact, the safety plan should be part of theinitial strategizing of the project. Each year, in the United Statesalone, there are roughly 1, reported foundation cave-in accidents withinjuries. This is a complex task. Ofcourse, OSHA's primary responsibility is the health and safety of allworkers in all career fields, but most experts agree that there are perhapsmore OSHA regulations for construction work than for any other field. 1926.3 1 governing the use of hand tools demands: § 1926.3 1 - Hand tools. Pre-job planning is vital to accident-free excavation work, and manyconstruction companies building homes hire full time engineeringprofessionals to supervise this work. In mostcases, the contractor is cited, since the contractor assumes the fullresponsibility for all events and actions and violations on the work site. To ensure that the management ofboth time and materials is not done with any jeopardy to human safety, theUnited States has created an office with great responsibility and greatpower -- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Both ofthese broad areas must be micromanaged to achieve maximum efficiency thatalways translates into maximum profits. The first part of theSafety Plan must cover what the site will be doing in terms of GeneralSafety. Sucha policy should also be stated clearly on the Safety Plan Cover, to showthat the home building project has the goals of remaining safe and up tocode. Absolutely not. The Challenges The purpose of the safety management plan is to provide a pre-projectreview and written guidelines for safetyadministration at the site. This delays the job and adds expense. Does this partnercare that some of its rules may be outdated and may not apply to everysituation? . But the plans which are most readily accepted arethose that also call for daily rigorous site inspections, complete withcheck lists available at the OSHA web site.
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