- Background
The U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Turner Construction Co.,
subcontractors, and labor organizations recognize the need for a safe and healthful jobsite. The goal of this
Partnership agreement is to help insure that the construction of the Queen City Square Tower project will occur
in a safe work environment for all employees.
This project consists of several components that will ultimately complete Queen City Square Tower. The project
is located at the corners of 4th Street and Sycamore, in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Queen City Square Tower is
scheduled for completion by the winter of 2011.
All government agencies are being asked to do more with less. With this in mind, OSHA has continued to explore
new and innovative ways to carry out its safety-related mission in the workplace. The Partners have developed a
"Partnership Agreement" Plan that is an element of the OSHA WORKS 2000 program. At the sites, the company, the
owner and OSHA will team up to achieve a safe workplace. The mission is to effectively implement all facets of
jobsite safety and achieve self-compliance through cooperative efforts from labor, management, owners and OSHA. This
cooperation allows OSHA to focus its limited resources at jobsites that are truly in need of directions in regards
to improving jobsite safety and health.
This Partnership is designed to not only address the hazards within the construction industry, but also to promote
and recognize those jobsites managed by a construction manager that has a demonstrated and effective safety and
health program. This Partnership Agreement will be implemented on the Queen City Square project.
This document will serve to establish a cooperative effort in ensuring safety, and to maintain an open line of
communication between OSHA, Turner Construction Company and other contractors on the project.
Specifications and assignments within this Partnership document do not relieve the contractors from or lessen
their safety and health responsibilities, nor do they change any contractual obligations between the owner and any
trade contractor (s). In addition, specifications and assignments within this Partnership do not lessen any/all
affirmative defenses, legal rights or due process afforded contractors with respect to Agency enforcement action.
- Purpose/Scope
The common objective and goal of the Partnership is to provide a safe and healthy environment for employees
working in the construction industry through increased training, implementation of best work practices, enhanced
safety and health programs and compliance with applicable OSHA standards and regulations. This initiative represents a
voluntary agreement, and affords a Partnership alternative to the traditional OSHA enforcement procedures.
By focusing efforts and utilizing the skills, knowledge, and resources of Turner Construction Company, (Turner), OSHA
and the OSHA Onsite Consultation Program, this Partnership expects to reduce exposure to hazards and incidence of serious
injuries and fatalities at the Queen City Square project. Increased communication between the stakeholders and mutual
respect are additional benefits expected from this cooperative and voluntary partnership.
OSHA has identified the top four causes of fatalities in construction as falls, struck-by- equipment or machinery,
electrocution and caught-in-between equipment. On average, OSHA has traditionally devoted 40 to 50% of its compliance
resources for enforcement activities in the construction industry. Again, the goal for this Partnership Agreement is to
relieve OSHA from the day-to-day burden of enforcing established safety standards on this project by teaming up with
the other partnership members and allow self-compliance through regular inspections and enforcement.
- Partners
- Turner Construction Company. (Turner)
- OSHA – Cincinnati Area Office
- Ohio Onsite Consultation Program
- Contractors subject to site management
- Goals
Participants in the partnership will strive to:
- Reduce and/or eliminate serious injuries and illnesses, and provide a safe and healthy work
environment for employees associated with the Queen City Square project.
- Increase the number of and the use of safety and health programs and best practices among contractors.
- Increase the number of employees and supervisors who have completed
relevant safety training through programs such as orientation, re-orientation,
and monthly safety training that may result in OSHA 10-Hour certification.
- Achieve a total lost workday injury and illness incident rate of 25% below the 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) industry average for construction (5.9).
- Strategies
The following are the strategies that will be used in achieving the goals of the Partnership:
- Turner Construction Company:
- 1. Turner will implement the Building Living Injury Free Everyday (L.I.F.E.) Program and a comprehensive safety and health program, which includes:
- Management commitment and employee involvement;
- Hazard analysis;
- Hazard control; and
- Arrangement of training assistance for other stakeholders onsite.
- Turner will mentor subcontractors who have not yet developed their own safety and health program and,
if necessary, refer them to Ohio Onsite Consultation for assistance.
- Turner will monitor the subcontractor's use of wet cutting techniques and/or dust collection systems,
in addition to the mandatory use of approved respiratory protection where the potential for airborne
silica exposure exists. To the extent feasible, personal air monitoring will be conducted to assess employee
exposures levels. Where the potential for other health issues such as carbon monoxide, lead, or large-scale
use of chemicals in the building interior (such as floor finishing) exists, Turner will strive to ensure
the compliance of air monitoring to assess employee exposure levels. Sampling results will be shared with
all affected employees, as well as OSHA and Ohio Onsite Consultation.
- Turner will have the authority to enforce safety rules and regulations. This authority will
include provisions to hold subcontractors and employees accountable and, if necessary, remove workers from the job site.
- Turner will require 100% fall protection for all fall hazards over six (6) feet.
- Warning lines may be used 15 feet from the leading edge as long as 100% restraint system will be
used to keep workers safe while working outside the 15 foot warning line (from reaching the edge and
falling to a lower level). Roofers may install an additional warning line at 6 feet from the leading
edge for their work No monitor system will be allowed.
- Bricklayers performing overhand bricklaying and related work six feet or higher above lower
levels must be protected according to OSHA Regulation 1926.451(g)(1)(vi).
- Workers on the face of formwork or reinforcing steel must be protected from falling six
feet or more by personal fall arrest systems, with the use of a positioning device.
(Although providing mandatory fall protection at the 6’ level is not required by the current OSHA
construction standards and is not mandated by OSHA as a requirement for participation in any OSHA
partnership agreement, the contractors on this partnership are committed to providing a greater level
of protection to the employees working at this site and will require protection at the 6’ level and above)
- To the extent feasible, serious ergonomic hazards will be identified and corrected. The Ohio
Onsite Consultation Service may be used as a resource.
- Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI) will be used to protect all electrical circuits that
are installed for work. All contractors will ensure that employees are protected by the use of a
GFCI at all times, including generators and permanent power.
- The Safety Director for Turner will assist in overseeing site safety and serve as a point of
contact to oversee the Partnership goals.
- The Site Safety Manager and/or Safety Coordinator will strive to ensure that daily safety
audits are conducted. Since this is a multi-employer worksite and all workers are to work together
on safety issues, a schedule of all daily site-safety audits will be developed by Turner and the
safety committee. This schedule will be posted on site for easy access.
- Turner's subcontractors will conduct and document job site safety meetings/toolbox talks on a weekly basis.
- Turner will submit monthly accident reports to the partners, including first aid, injury, property damage and near-miss reports.
- Turner's designated Site Safety Coordinator will coordinate and conduct a comprehensive site audit on a monthly basis.
Partnership Committee Members will participate in the site-safety audit when needed. If non-compliant activity or hazards
are discovered, immediate correction is required. Turner will document the corrective action taken and share this information
during the monthly update meetings.
- Turner and its subcontractors will allow OSHA access to the site during inspection activities (monitoring and unprogrammed
activities such as fatalities and employee complaints).
- Turner will audit the Partnership and make recommendations for improvement.
- Turner will conduct jobsite inspections, and Select Near Misses will be shared and made available to all workers.
Select Near Misses and daily safety audits will be discussed during stretching exercises.
- Turner may request the services from Ohio Onsite Consultation if a safety and health program has
not been developed or submitted for the project.
- When health-related issues arise during the course of the work, which are beyond the scope of the
Partnership, referrals will be made through Turner to the Ohio Onsite Consultation Service.
- Turner will require the use of appropriate personal protective equipment. Hardhats and eye protection
will be worn at all times on the worksite. Employees working at night shall wear high-visibility reflective clothing.
- Performance Measures
- To ensure that the tools are available to measure results, the Turner Site
Safety Coordinator will collect the Total Case Incidence Rate (TCIR) and the
Days Away, Restrictions, and Transfers Rate (DART) data (as a baseline) and
Compare the rates to the 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) national
averages for construction.
- In addition, the Turner Site Safety Coordinator will collect information on the following:
- The number of contractors associated with the project who:
- Have effective safety and health programs;
- Improve their safety and health programs as a result of the Partnership.
- Provide the OSHA 10 and 30-Hour and other hazard-specific training, training to their employees.
- Identify/abate the number of hazards through site-safety audits and monthly safety committee reviews.
- Partnership and Member Involvement
- Turner Construction Company will:
- Facilitate (through its safety representative) on a monthly basis an onsite Safety Review
Committee (SRC) meeting attended by each contractor’s competent person focused on the
development of the OSHA Partnership agreement. The SRC will review the completed and summarized
inspections of the site as part of the process. Hazards identified and corrected, as well as trends, will be discussed.
- Facilitate site compliance with the Queen City Square Tower Safety Program, which is included in compliance documents and bid requirements.
- Maintain measurement systems monthly that will incorporate data to analyze the number of hours worked, number of injuries, illnesses, and
fatalities, and the number of serious violations found as a result of onsite audits, jobsite inspections, and OSHA inspection activities.
- Strive to ensure compliance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E when working on live electrical equipment, including
training and the availability and use of personal protective equipment. A permitting system will be implemented to oversee the
implementation of appropriate protective measures prior to exposure.
- Allow OSHA access to the jobsite during un-programmed inspection activities such as fatalities and formal employee
complaints. In addition to OSHA’s notification requirements, Turner will notify the local OSHA Area Office of safety or
health-related events that are likely to generate public attention and/or news media coverage. This notification will
provide the Agency with timely and bona fide information for responding to Agency and public inquiries.
- Be responsible (through its safety representative) for overseeing site safety, and will serve as the point of contact
for questions concerning the elements of the partnership.
- Request that the Ohio Onsite Consultation Program performs at least one audit every 12 months during the duration of the project.
- Provide signage identifying the site as an OSHA Partnership Project.
- Require all contractors to implement a Drug-Free Workplace Program. If a contractor does not have its own program,
it must implement the Turner’s program or the Level 1 Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation’s Drug Free Workplace Program.
- Provide a Project Superintendent/Labor Representative (with site-safety responsibilities) to serve as a point of contact,
and to assist the Site Safety Representative in overseeing the Partnership goals. This individual will review the jobsite from a
safety perspective on a daily basis.
- Conduct and document jobsite safety inspections at least twice weekly. These inspections are in addition to the general
undocumented inspections which should occur daily.
- OSHA will:
- Participate, as resources permit, in the monthly Partnership committee meetings. However, OSHA will not
participate in the site safety inspections.
- Designate an experienced safety and health specialist to serve as a resource and liaison for Partnership
participants. The Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS) from the Cincinnati Area OSHA Office will be involved
with the review of contractor safety and health programs, as well as other pertinent documentation, and will
assist with training as needed.
- Give priority to the OSHA Onsite Consultation Program when technical assistance is needed.
- Audit monthly inspection reports/documents, and make recommendations for improvement in meeting partnership goals.
- Give priority to this construction project when technical assistance is needed.
- Contractors/Suppliers will:
- Identify their competent persons who will attend the monthly safety partnership meetings,
resolve jobsite safety matters, and be a liaison to the Turner jobsite Superintendent and safety representative.
- Conduct and document weekly jobsite safety and health inspections for those employees and work activities
under their control. This will be in addition to the general, undocumented inspections that occur daily. If non-compliant
activities or hazards are discovered, immediate response and/or correction will be required. Documentation of abatement
must be kept on file and presented to Turner upon request.
- Share with all employees, including lower tier subcontractors, all jobsite safety inspections reviewed during the monthly meetings.
- Be required (at the discretion of Turner) through its contractor competent person to participate in weekly site-safety inspections. If
non-compliant activities or hazards are discovered, the affected contractor shall provide verification of abatement/correction and/or
employee retraining to Turner within 24 hours of identification of the issue.
- Request services (mandatory) from an independent safety consultant if a safety and health program has not been developed or
submitted for the project. (No work shall begin until this requirement is fulfilled).
- Fully comply with the Building L.I.F.E. Program.
- Ohio Onsite Consultation Program will:
- Participate in at least two (2) safety and health inspections during the duration of the construction project.
- Be used (optional) as a reference for program improvement.
- Assist (optional) in the auditing portion of the Partnership and make recommendations for improvements.
- Benefits
- A maximum penalty reduction (25%) as allowed for in the OSHA Field Inspection Reference Manual (FIRM) for good
faith and history will be given. When calculating the initial penalty reduction, OSHA may provide an additional
10% reduction for good faith beyond the 25% reductions also provided for in the FIRM where the employer, in implementing
the OSP, has taken specific significant steps beyond those provided for in the FIRM to implement the Act and achieve
a high level of employee protection (see FIRM, Chapter IV.C.2.i.5 [b]). This additional reduction will not apply to
high gravity serious, willful, failure to abate or repeat citations. In cases where a partner’s total penalty reduction
is 100 percent or more, the minimum penalty provisions of the FIRM will apply (see FIRM, Chapter IV.C.2.b).
- Priority will be given to "phone and fax" investigations of non-formal complaints in lieu of onsite inspections,
except that Turner Construction Company and its subcontractors will remain subject to OSHA inspections and investigations
(including formal complaints) in accordance with Agency procedures.
- The site will be exempt from the programmed inspection list upon the successful completion of an OSHA monitoring inspection.
- Any apparent non-serious violation observed during an enforcement visit shall not be cited if it is immediately abated.
- The project will be given priority consideration for compliance assistance and offsite technical assistance.
- OSHA Inspections and Verification
- OSHA will conduct one (1) focused monitoring inspection annually during the duration of the partnership.
The "Focused Inspection" protocol addressing hazards related to falls, struck-by, caught-in-between,
and electrical hazards will be followed. Inspections conducted in response to complaints, local emphasis programs,
or referrals will qualify as the verifying inspection if, in addition to addressing the complaint/referral item(s),
the compliance officer completes the focused inspection protocol for the worksite.
- Turner and contractors will remain subject to OSHA inspections and investigations in accordance with Agency procedures.
OSHA will continue to investigate fatalities and catastrophes that occur at the jobsite.
- Employee Rights and Responsibilities
This Partnership does not preclude employees and/or employers from exercising any right provided under
the OSH Act, nor does it abrogates any responsibility to comply with rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act.
All contractors who work on the Queen City Square project, whether they are a signatory partner or not, are considered
participants in this Partnership by virtue of the contractual agreement with Turner Construction Company. All contractor
companies brought in through the contract enacted by Turner Construction Company will assume the safety and health requirements
of this Partnership. Each company will be afforded the opportunity to become a signatory partner. The knowledge gained from this
Partnership will be applied to reduce injuries and illnesses at future work sites.
- Annual Evaluation
The Program will be evaluated annually during the duration of the project through the use of the
Strategic Partnership Annual Evaluation Format measurement system, as specified in Appendix C of CSP 03-02-002 (OSHA
Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health Directive).
It will be the responsibility of Turner to gather required data to evaluate and track the overall results and successes
of the Partnership program. This data will be shared with OSHA and the Ohio Onsite Consultation Program.
It will be the responsibility of OSHA to conduct, write and submit the annual evaluation.
- Termination
This agreement shall be in effect until completion of the project.
Should any "signatory" stakeholder choose to withdraw prior to the project completion, a written notice
shall be given stating the reason(s) and must provide a 30-day notice to the other party(s).
If OSHA chooses to withdraw its participation in the Partnership, the entire agreement is terminated.
Any party may also propose modification or amendment to this agreement.
Changes to the Partnership agreement may be implemented if all parties are in agreement that it is in
the best interest of all the members involved.
- Signatures
The date of this Turner Construction Company/OSHA Partnership agreement is September_____, 2008.
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