Planning for a successful safety program starts with setting goals, implementing proper recordkeeping procedures and ensuring documentation is correct. ABC's STEP Safety Management System provides the framework to drive improvements in construction safety programs through recordkeeping and benchmarking in 25 key components. Discover four helpful tips for submitting OSHA incident data. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently announced it had renewed its partnership with ABC’s Central Texas Chapter and promoted the partnership as a success story. In an article posted to its website, OSHA highlighted a number of collaborative programs between ABC and OSHA that led to a significant safety achievement: The 2016 combined Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) rate for participating contractors was 50 percent below the 2015 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) average.

WASHINGTON, March 24—The Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) has concerns with the final rule on respirable crystalline silica released today by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It appears, upon initial review, that the 1,772-page final rule contains some of the same problematic provisions that the CISC previously identified and shared with the agency. CISC has been a highly engaged participant in the rulemaking process since OSHA put forth the proposed rule two and a half years ago.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 4—Eight construction industry organizations filed a petition for review of the final crystalline silica rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today. Petitioning groups included: Mississippi Road Builders’ Association, American Subcontractors Association of Texas, Pelican Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, Louisiana Associated General Contractors, Associated Masonry Contractors of Texas, Distribution Contractors Association, Mechanical Contractors Associations of Texas and Texas Association of Builders.

The anti-retaliation provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Electronic Injury Reporting and Anti-Retaliation final rule (also known as Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses) go into effect Thursday, Dec. 1. The rule, which was finalized on May 12, 2016, will make the submission of the injury and illness forms mandatory and exclusively electronic for most employers. For the first time, OSHA plans to make this information publicly available on the Internet through a new searchable database and use the data for enforcement purposes. Also, some forms of post-accident drug testing and accident-free programs will be deemed to be unlawfully

A recent interpretation letter by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has refined the definition of a recordable injury under 29 CFR Part 1904 – Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. According to the interpretation, an employee’s self-treatment of wrist pain with a rigid brace qualifies as a reportable injury even if a physician later determines that the brace is acceptable yet unnecessary treatment.

ABC today released the following statement in reaction to the release of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) final rule on Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, commonly referred to as “electronic recordkeeping.”

ABC is reminding its contractor member firms that their 2015 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300A work-related injury and illness log summaries must be posted in a visible spot on all construction sites from Feb. 1 through April 30. 

A year after OSHA’s new injury and illness reporting requirements went into effect (Jan. 1, 2015); the agency launched a webpage to allow employers to electronically report cases. Employers now have three ways to report incidents: electronically through OSHA’s new web portal, www.osha.gov/report; by phone (1–800–321–OSHA or 1–800–321–6742); or by contacting the nearest OSHA Area Office.

The Obama Administration’s regulatory agenda was released on Nov. 20 and lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release in 2016, their final year. An update on rulemakings from a variety of agencies affecting the construction industry is below. ABC has also published Newsline stories updating the status of rulemakings from theOccupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Department of Labor listed in the regulatory agenda. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA): Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)