On Oct. 27, President Trump nominated Scott Mugno for Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Labor. Mugno currently serves as the vice president for safety, sustainability and vehicle maintenance at FedEx Ground and previously worked as managing director of FedEx Express corporate safety, health and fire protection.

On Oct. 19, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Galassi issued a memorandum on Interim Enforcement Guidance for the Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard. The memo provides interim enforcement guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) for enforcing the standard.

Enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) silica standard as it applies to the construction industry will begin on Sept. 23. On Sept. 20, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Thomas Galassi issued a memorandum on enforcement policy for the construction industry. 

Enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s silica standard as it applies to the construction industry will begin on Sept. 23. The silica rule lowers the permissible exposure limit from the current standard of 250 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an eight-hour day, and an action level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air. In addition, the final rule requires contractors to follow several ancillary provisions, such as housekeeping and written exposure plans.

We have all been affected by the scenes that continue to unfold of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit our country.  When the flood waters recede, ABC contractor members and their employees will be asked to help rebuild Houston and other communities along the Texas Gulf Coast.  

On Aug. 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched the Injury Tracking Application, which is the web-based form employers can use to submit their injury and illness data. The launch comes right after OSHA closed the comment period on delaying the electronic reporting portion of the final rule, “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” from July 1 to Dec. 1, 2017.

A new whiteboard video helps members understand the value of ABC's Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) and highlights how they could make their company 770% safer than the industry average. STEP is a safety benchmarking and improvement tool that dramatically improves safety performance among construction industry participants regardless of company size or type of work. 

During ABC's Legislative Week 2017, an ad entitled ‘ABC Members Build America’ was released via social media. The ad features updated information on the growing nonunion workforce chart, construction industry tax rates and ABC members’ improving safety performance. The ad has been made available as marketing resources for ABC members and chapters.

On May 24, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an interpretation letter in response to a question on whether a supervisor’s advice to continue participating in daily stretching exercises constitutes medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes.

Throughout Safety Week 2017, May 1-5, ABC, its members and other industry organizations came together to highlight the importance of safety on construction jobsites.