OSHA to Partner with Local Building Inspectors to Reduce Construction Fatalities

OSHA is launching a pilot program seeking to partner with building inspectors in 11 U.S. cities to reduce injuries and fatalities at construction sites.

Under this program, building inspectors would notify OSHA when they observe, during the course of their work, unsafe work conditions. OSHA, in turn, would send a federal agency compliance officer to that workplace for a safety inspection.

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis has sent letters to the mayors of the selected cities, proposing that OSHA work with and train local building inspectors on hazards associated with the four leading causes of death at construction sites: falls; electrocution; being crushed or caught between objects; and being struck by moving machinery or objects.

“I believe workplace enforcement is not only our responsibility but our moral obligation,” Solis wrote in her letter. “We need your help to send our inspectors where they can make the biggest difference.”

“This initiative allows us to expand our eyes and ears,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. “Although we are adding 110 new inspectors this year, OSHA simply cannot inspect every construction site in the country.”

OSHA seeks to partner with building inspectors in the following cities:

• Austin, Texas
• Boise, Idaho
• Cincinnati
• Concord, N.H.
• Greenwood Village, Colo.
• Madison, Miss.
• Atlanta metropolitan area
• Newark, N.J.
• Oakland, Calif.
• Washington, D.C.
• Wichita, Kan.