Feature

September/October 2009

An Impressive Partnership

A well-respected industry-OSHA safety collaboration has reduced injuries, saved lives and cut costs

By Debra Wood

Sundt Construction workers have been trained in a collaborative culture of safety, ready to tackle any type of job and its safety needs.

Many Associated General Contractors of America chapters and members have discovered the benefits of partnering with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration on safety issues.

“We have made tremendous progress in any measure of safety that you wish—the incidence rate, the severity rate, the lost-time rate and deaths,” says Doug Pruitt, chairman and CEO of Sundt Construction of Tempe, Ariz., and 2009 president of AGC of America.

Pruitt cites a 47% reduction in fatalities for the industry nationwide, a 38% decline in the injury rate and a 42% drop in injury-related time away from work since collaboration with OSHA began in 1998.

“We would like to think that the collaborative agreements are a major part of the reason for the reduction,” adds Chuck Penn, executive director of the AGC- Shreveport Chapter. His chapter recently signed a collaborative partnership agreement with OSHA, which promotes training and self-monitoring by construction firms.

“In Louisiana, we have one office to cover a lot of geographical area,” says Dorinda Folse, area director for OSHA in Baton Rouge. OSHA collaboration is “one more method and opportunity to touch people and, hopefully, save lives. We are able to tear down barriers and the fear factor. People feel we are approachable. We want to act before something happens and be more proactive than reactive. The other benefit is the spirit of mentorship. AGC members bring other members along.”

AGC of South Florida, in Sunrise, has partnered with OSHA since 2001. Its members also assist each other with safety issues. Moss & Associates, Fort Lauderdale, loaned competing firms cardiopulmonary resuscitation training equipment.

“We all work together, because safety has no boundaries,” says Brian Trusky, vice president of loss prevention for Moss.

Participating AGC South Florida mem­bers submit health and safety plans to OSHA for review and welcome jobsite inspectors for collaborative walk-throughs. In the first partnership year, the combined accident rate for the 20 participating AGC South Florida members dropped 19% below the national average. The second year, it fell to 25% below the average.

“The guys love it,” says Len Mills, executive vice president of AGC South Florida. One member “called the program the best thing AGC ever did,” he adds.

The Florida East Coast Chapter of AGC, in West Palm Beach, renewed its partnership with OSHA in June. It affords participating members recognition and incentives for exemplary safety programs and encourages contractors and the chapter to work together to reduce safety hazards and to mentor prospective partners, says Michelle Anaya DePotter, executive director of the Florida East Coast Chapter.

The Raleigh, N.C., office of Skanska USA Building Inc., a Carolinas AGC member, first partnered with the North Carolina Dept. of Labor, while building the Raleigh Convention Center with Barnhill Con­tracting Co.’s Raleigh-based building division, also a Carolinas AGC member. It is one of more than 20 state programs approved and monitored by OSHA. Labor inspectors participated in training and walked the site quarterly.

“It was a total success,” says Ben Dunn, senior safety manager for Skanska. “We met all of the goals set by the partnership agreement, as far as maintaining 50% below the DART [injury or illness-related days away, restrictions and transfers] rate for North Carolina for the three-year period.”

The team had one minor lost-time accident, and the owner-insured project saved enough money on its worker’s compensation premium to cover the entire cost of insurance on the project, Dunn says.

“What makes the partnership work is the involvement and relationship built between everybody,” Dunn adds.

Skanska jobsite and office workers start their days with a program called Stretch and Flex. (Photo Courtesy of Skanska)

North Carolina Commissioner of Labor Cherie Berry agrees. She has since established partnerships on other projects and says she would like to initiate more of them, especially on large jobs.

“We were very pleased with the partnership,” Berry says. “Our goal has been to eliminate hazards and to do that collaboratively, to educate and train and provide compliance assistance where we can. These partnerships are a good example of that and of the public and private sectors working together for outstanding results.”

Skanska also is partnering with the department on the $150.2-million, 414,600-sq-ft expansion of the Wake County Hammond Road Detention Center, and Dunn says the company is experiencing good results.

PBG Builders, a Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based member of AGC of Tennessee, has established a culture of safety. The firm partners with the Tennessee Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, another OSHA state program.

“We look at it as another tool to raise the safety bar,” says Tim Prow, executive vice president of PBG. “Everything is not black-and-white. The standards can be impossible to meet if they are not defined. It’s helpful to have them come out and work through those areas.”

Sundt invited OSHA to participate in training, review safety plans, audit jobs and offer ideas, thus creating an ally. Pruitt credits the collaboration with helping the company reduce its accident rate by 90% since 1998. Sundt offers cash incentives to employees reporting a safety problem and awards managers bonuses for safe jobsites.

Turner finds its jobsites are safer through communication and collaboration. (Photo Courtesy of Turner)

New York City-based Turner Construction Co., an AGC of New York member, has entered into more than 40 OSHA partnerships, including an Ohio Voluntary Protection Program, which applies to all projects in that state.

“OSHA does a rigorous check that you are doing the things you say you will do, that you are exceeding the OSHA standards in some cases, and you have a high-quality safety and health program,” says Cindy DePrater, vice president of safety and loss control for Turner. “It’s a good best-practice because it develops relationships with OSHA.”

AGC of Ohio member The Ruhlin Co., Sharon Center, Ohio, recently decided to partner with OSHA’s local area office.

“It opens the door for both of us, for them to learn about the construction industry and for us to improve our safety program further,” says Ryan Nicholson, safety director for Ruhlin. “If that line of communication is there and we have a partnership with OSHA, we feel free to call them for assistance. Or if they have a concern and need some advice from someone in the industry, they can reference us.”