Contractor Safety Meeting Manual or E H & Safety Manual?

Most contractors are unaware that OSHA extended its Region 1 (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) Local Emphasis Program for Fall Protection until September 30, 2015.

The Mass DOLS has just released a list of contractors and property management firms fined for violations of the Mass RRP Lead Law. One contractor was fined $9,750.00. The companies are from different areas of the state. We have received reports from contractors of enforcement from all over the state however up until this posting there was no posted accounts. A frequent question in our RRP Training Classes is that there is no enforcement on RRP. Other comments include how come there are so many contractors not following the RRP Law?

A new press release from OSHA was published last week urging employers to protect their workers during winter storms. We all remember the snow and ice form last year when we were shoveling off roofs everywhere in the northeast.

On 12/13/2011 I testified on behalf of EMNARI and the remodeling industry at the BBRS hearing opposing the Massachusetts Stretch Sprinkler Code provision. I was fortunate to be the first contractor representative to speak right after state representative Matt Beaton who is a NARI member and remodeling contractor. As I looked up at the board on each end I saw a Fire Chief in full uniform and wondered do Mass contractors really have a shot at going up against the big union machine to stop the sprinkler mandates?

Contractors keep sending me pictures from their daily travels when ever they see something unsafe going on. I wonder if they are also sending these shots to OSHA or the EPA.

Next week Eastern Mass NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry) will host a chat room with Mass Department of Labor Standards. The chat room topic will be RRP in Massachusetts. Our guests coming from DOLS are Director Heather Rowe, Chief of Enforcement Brian Wong and Patricia Sutliffe. The chat room will take place at 5:00-6:00 PM before the networking portion of the dinner meeting. Be sure to register early as I expect there will be a strong turn out.

OSHA announced they have fined a Shelton, Connecticut contractor $127,560 for willful fall protection violations. The contractor was cited again while working on a job site located in Stratford, Connecticut.