SC&RA executive vice president Joel Dandrea said American construction workers “have waited too long for OSHA to do its job” and bring in the rules which could have prevented the deaths and negative press arising from a number of accidents in 2008.
Dandrea presented testimony to the US Department of Labor during four days of public hearings on the rule. He also outlined how further delays in implementing C-DAC will affect regional safety and impact the US government’s planned stimulus package.
Dandrea said there is a trend for local and state jurisdictions to produce their own guidelines due to a lack of federal standards, and that this will unnecessarily complicate compliance between one state and another. “We see no reason why a hodgepodge of safety requirements should leave workers in one state more susceptible to worksite injury, or even death, than those in another.”
Clear and concise safety regulations will also be needed to safeguard workers involved in the lifting and shifting of components in the building and repair of roads, bridges, renewable energy plants and the electricity grid.
“As our nation rebuilds, the tragedy of any fatalities resulting from faulty regulations would be magnified,” said Dandrea. “The progress of much-needed projects would be slowed as America would pause to question their human costs.”
Dandrea praised OSHA for drafting the proposed standard, and for including new protections in areas not covered by existing rules, such as qualifications for operators and signalpersons, inspection criteria, fall protection, power line safety, ground conditions, authority to stop operations and operational aids.
