Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH)
Minutes of July 28, 2011 Meeting

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The meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) was called to order by Chairman Frank. L. Migliaccio, Jr. at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 28, 2011. The following members and representatives were present:

Approximately 35 members of the public attended at various times, as did a number of DOL/OSHA representatives and members of the press.

MORNING SESSION: Opening remarks and agenda

Mr. Migliaccio welcomed the attendees, discussed the agenda for the meeting, and asked the committee members and representatives to introduce themselves.

Directorate of Construction Update

Jim Maddux first shared with the group that this was his first ACCSH meeting as the new Director for the Directorate of Construction (DOC). Mr. Maddux gave an overview of the standards, enforcement, and guidance issues that were being worked by DOC. He shared a PowerPoint presentation which gave a breakdown of the three Directorate offices and their directors. He stated that there are two items in the pre-rule stage: backing operation or back-over accidents, and reinforcing and post tension steel/rebar construction. Work groups would be reporting on these issues. He also talked about a final rule on confined spaces that is due to come out in the fall. This rule was proposed before the Cranes Standard was proposed and was put on hold while the Cranes Standard went through. Now that the Cranes Standard has been published, a larger team has been assembled around Confined Spaces and is moving forward. There were two other proposed standards that were not included in the new standard (underground construction and demolition), so it was decided to retain the old Cranes rule. It's in the standard right now as subpart DD that applies to just those two industries.

Mr. Perry from the Directorate of Standards and Guidance talked about some of the other rulemakings that were underway. The first was regarding an update design criteria for personal protective equipment which had been done earlier in the General Industry Rule 1910.132 for head, foot and eye/face protection. This basically involved reviewing the latest consensus standards that relate to design criteria for personal protective equipment. The previous standards referenced very old versions of the consensus standards, so now they are updating the rules to refer to the later ANSI Standards. They are also working on a rule which adds an MSD column (musculoskeletal disorder) to OSHA's recordkeeping form. Teleconferences were held with small business representatives to get more information on current practices for ascertaining and recording MSD cases and some of the issues employers face. They are also working to revise their standards on electric power generation distribution and transmission, which are in the final rule stage. The rulemaking on injury and illness prevention programs is in the very early pre-rule stage. Mr. Perry wanted to reiterate that the next step is to initiate the SBREFA process. This process involves the agency consulting with small business representatives to get input on the draft standard or regulatory alternative and a preliminary economic and regulatory flexibility analysis. A major rulemaking effort to amend the Hazard Communication Standard to conform to the globally harmonized system of hazard communication is in a final rule stage. Finally there is a major rule being considered again to address exposure to crystalline silica in general industry, construction and maritime.

Chairman Migliaccio thanked Mr. Perry.

Mr. Migliaccio asked two questions: first, nail guns - it was recommended from the committee last time the Nail Guns Workgroup had completed its work. Has anything come up on nail guns?

Mr. Maddux responded: I'll be continuing to work on this as we go forward. We have some guidance that we're working on.

Mr. Migliaccio's second question concerned the workgroups. The issue has been that the hour and fifteen minutes allowed has caused the groups to run out of time or run over into other groups' time. He had been approached by a couple of workgroups members on a solution for this issue.

Mr. Maddux stated that they are very open to members' suggestions. He also offered one solution, that the workgroups could hold conference calls in between meetings. This would allow them to be up to speed on the issues when they meet face-to-face.

Mr. Migliaccio asked if anyone was going to pick back up again on sending out information on what was coming up with different standards.

Mr. Maddux replied when we have standards that are ripe for that, we will bring them to the committee. This is actually required by the OSH Act.

Mr. Maddux spoke again and introduced additional slides that were not on standards, but on other types of issues that could result in future rulemakings. There were two ongoing lawsuits Mr. Maddux briefed the group on: one with the Cranes and Derricks Rule, and the other with residential fall protection. He also talked about additional items that the Directorate is working.

Chairman Migliaccio thanked Mr. Maddux.

Ms. Shortall submitted the DOC Update PowerPoint Presentation by Jim Maddux into the records.

The ACCSH meeting was ahead of schedule, and the Chair, Frank Migliaccio, decided to proceed with the Work Group updates.

Green Jobs in Construction Work Groups

Co-Chair Walter Jones presided and Matt Gillen assisted. The work group met on July 27, 2011. It began with self-introductions followed by three presentations.

Potential Hazards during Solar Installation and Operation

Christine Covington of SEIA described ongoing efforts to look at potential hazards during solar installation and operation. She provided a handout describing a GAPs analysis which described 15 potential hazards, related work tasks, and existing applicable OSHA Regulations.

Dean McKenzie of OSHA reiterated that OSHA standards are activity-based, so they do not include explicit mention of solar or other operations, and this sometimes presents a challenge to small employers.

Additional discussion addressed the following issues: the need for solar installations to provide better worker access for installers and even firefighters and weight issues, including the placement of pallets of panels on roofs.

Additional handouts on two solar panel installation fatalities were provided by Workgroup Chair Walter Jones.

Emerging Issues

David Valiante of OSHA's Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management presented approaches OSHA is using to track emerging issues, which he defined as "One that results in new or increasing hazards in the workplace." Examples provided included corrosive drywall, worker fatigue, spray polyurethane foam, and silica in hydraulic fracturing operations.

OSHA is drawing from journals, Twitter, field reports and other sources. The Agency then filters this surveillance information and develops emerging issues risk summaries.

David agreed to share the list that they have with the workgroups. Emerging issues will be discussed again at a future ACCSH workgroup meeting where ACCSH members can share their perceptions of emerging issues and learn more about the OSHA program. A handout listing several of the OSHA emerging issues was provided.

Hazard Bands

Donna Heidel of NIOSH presented on the use of health hazard bands to assess risk in design and then to implement and evaluate control solutions. The presentation described the scope of the problem, especially the lack of exposure limits for many substances, and the need for an objective criteria system for insuring that workers are protected from health hazards.

There was a motion to retain the Workgroup's reports. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Prevention Through Design Workgroup

Michael Thibodeaux gave the work group's update. Mr. Walter Jones presided, and there were 36 attendees.

Donna Heidel from NIOSH gave a presentation. It focused on prevention or reduction of occupation illnesses, injuries and fatalities at the project's design or redesign phase. It included the retrofit of new and existing work premises, structures, tools, facilities, equipment, machinery, products, substance, work processes and the organization of work.

Scott Schneider from the Alliance Program Construction Roundtable gave the second presentation. OSHA developed the Alliance Program Construction Roundtable to bring construction-related Alliance Program participants together to discuss and share information on workplace safety and health. The Roundtable is developing Design for Safety fact sheets.

Michael Thibodeaux stated that there is a fact sheet that discusses the problem, statement, design solution and illustration, and applicable rules and resources. The website is designforconstructionsafety.org.

There was a motion to accept the workgroup's reports. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Pete Stafford was unclear of the specific activity of this workgroup.

Walter Jones replied that it looks at issues much more narrowly.

Matt Gillen felt that there is an overlap between Green and PTD and would like to see the two topics combined into one.

Michael Thibodeaux felt that having both committees combined would probably work because they're closely aligned.

Sarah Shortall shared that there's an established federal workgroup that is an umbrella workgroup, called Emerging Issues. They are putting issues like Green Jobs, Prevention through Design and any other new issues within that particular workgroup.

Letitia Davis did not have a question but wanted to comment that she would like to explore more how to draw on the field experience of OSHA, whether via the consultation program or enforcement programs. Identify design issues, which really aren't the subject of their work.

Chairman Migliaccio entertained a motion to accept the workgroup's report. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

There was a motion to join the Prevention through Design Workgroup with the Green Workgroup into one subgroup. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Chairman Migliaccio wanted new members to step up to the plate and chair the workgroups. Walter Jones and Matt Gillen agreed to step down from at least one workgroup to allow for new members to participate. Mr. Jones will chair Green Hazards, and new member Gary Batykefer will now co-chair Health Hazards working with Matt Gillen. Matt agreed to co-lead with Letitia on I2P2, and new member Thomas Marrero agreed to co-chair with them.

A brief break followed.

Sarah Shortall entered items into the record from the workgroups.

During the break, Bill Hering agreed to sit on the Backing Operations Workgroup.

Chair Migliaccio introduced Dr. Michaels and had everybody introduce themselves from the committee.

Dr. Michaels thanked Chairman Migliaccio and presented him with a certificate and a letter. The letter was from Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, thanking and recognizing the Chairman for his great dedication to construction workers' safety and health, to his union and its members, to the workers across the United States, and of course to OSHA and ACCSH.

Dr. Michaels began his presentation by noting that this was OSHA's 40th anniversary. President Nixon signed the OSH Act, which also created NIOSH, the Occupational Safety and Heath Review Commission, and the Commission on Worker's Compensation. Topics discussed in his presentation were fatal work injuries, standards, recognition/compliance programs for employers, and enforcement. Dr. Michaels presented an audio on silica and talked about heat. He also talked about new initiatives OSHA is working on; worker's compensation and distracted driving. He ended his presentation by talking about a photo contest, which is a way to raise awareness and interest in workplace safety. Dr. Michaels answered several questions.

Sarah Shortall put into the record a number of exhibits.

Backing Operations Hazards Workgroup

The workgroup, co-chaired by Steve Hawkins and Chuck Stribling, met on July 27, 2011 with approximately 42 in attendance. There was a welcome and introductions, and two handouts were distributed that gave details of workplace fatalities investigated in Tennessee. Paul Bolon and Meghan Smith from the Directorate of Construction then gave a PowerPoint presentation that included statistics showing approximately 140 backing fatalities investigated between 2005 and 2010.

Brad Sant from ARTBA discussed their training program, and then there was a lengthy discussion on other electronic methods to analyze and reduce hazards and provide training.

Matt Gillen was asked if he or a representative from NIOSH could come and discuss their work (both work product/materials produced to date and also the research) that they are conducting on this issue.

There was a discussion about seeking a presentation by manufacturers and distributors of electronic aids, cameras and proximity alarms. Other items the group would like information on were: other employee training programs; development and use of internal traffic control plans; and the success and shortcomings experienced by the two states that have state-specific standards (Virginia and Washington).

Frank Migliaccio moved that ACCSH recommend that OSHA set up a backing operations hazards page on their website. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

There was a motion to accept the workgroup's report. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Sarah Shortall marked several Exhibits and submitted them for the record.

Diversity, Women in Construction, and Multilingual Issues Workgroup

The workgroup, chaired by Mike Thibodeaux and Laurie Shadrick, had 35 people in attendance. The meeting began with a welcome and introduction and review of minutes of the last two workgroup meetings. The most important issues and activities raised during the last two meetings were discussed as well as a fact sheet, Women in Construction, and a Women in Construction Quick Card from North Carolina OSHA. There was also a discussion on the need for a new Construction and Sanitation Standard that could deal with the needs of female workers in construction.

There was a presentation by Rob Swick from the Directorate of Enforcement Programs on 11C, the Whistleblower Standard. Two publications about whistleblowing were distributed.

ISO, through Dan Glucksman, provided a copy of a list of safety symbols. This list will be discussed at the next meeting.

Letitia Davis moved that ACCSH recommend that OSHA translate the residential construction fall protection guidance documents into Spanish and make them available on the OSHA webpage. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Walter Jones moved that ACCSH recommend that OSHA use SIPs for rule making, to update the Construction PPE Standards to mirror the General Industry PPE requirements, specifically that PPE fit the employee who will use it and also for incorporating the CAL/OSHA Sanitation Standard. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

James Planter from CPWR offered to provide Danezza Quintero from Directorate of Construction with the latest Hispanic BLS data that has been prepared by CPWR.

There was a motion entered to accept the workgroup's report. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

There was a motion entered that ACCSH recommend that OSHA conduct a direct final rulemaking to update the Construction PPE requirements to mirror the General Industry PPE Requirements that the PPE fit the employee who will use it. Also included is that they use the Women in Construction Fact Sheet as one of the official publications and that they have a new Women in Construction tab on the OSHA website. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

A motion was entered that ACCSH recommend that OSHA change the name of this workgroup from Diversity, Multilingual, Women in Construction to just Diversity. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Sarah Shortall entered several items in the record.

Meeting Briefings

Eric Harbin from the Directorate of Construction provided the group an update on the various motions and recommendations from previous ACCSH meetings.

The meeting was adjourned at noon for lunch.

AFTERNOON SESSION:

Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs (DCSP) Update

Elizabeth Way from the Directorate of Cooperatives and State Programs (DCSP) gave a directorate update. Ms. Way talked about four aspects of the Directorate, specifically the Alliance Program, Voluntary Protection Programs, OSHA Challenge and the Strategic Partnership Program. She talked about developing products for workers, managers and supervisors as well as doing outreach and reaching diverse and hard-to-reach workforces. Ms. Way said that they are trying to make people aware of their rights under the OSH Act. She also talked about including the voice of the workers within the agreements and the implementation teams and product work groups. Right now, this is on a nationwide level. They have 324 active Alliances with 35 of those being union signatories and 11 are with consulates, with even more consulate Alliances expected in the future.

Ben Bare had a question on non-traditional non-profit organizations.

Ms. Way answered that they are organizations OSHA hasn't ordinarily worked with and gave as an example the National Council of La Raza.

Chairman Migliaccio had to interrupt Ms. Way so that Ms. Debbie Berkowitz could give updates from the Chief of Staff before she departed for another meeting.

Update from Chief of Staff

Debbie Berkowitz began by showing a 4-minute video produced in recognition of OSHA's 40th birthday. She then welcomed everyone and began talking about outreach and education followed by the launching of the heat illness prevention campaign. She stated that they were focusing on developing low literacy material and producing a series of short videos in construction on falls of every kind and trenches. The new noise webpage was updated and redone, and some publications that are used frequently are being updated. At the end she thanked everyone for all their work and entertained questions.

Pete Stafford wanted to know if the initiative on training building inspectors to report hazards had gotten off to a good start.

Ms. Berkowitz stated that experience was mixed; it did go forward and was still going on. Some sectors were on board, others opposed it and made it a very political issue.

Chairman Migliaccio apologized to Ms. Way for having to stop her in the middle of her discussion. She picked up where she left off and then concluded with saying they are looking at the use of partnership enforcement benefits and seeing how enforcement, exemptions and those sorts of things are being used in the partnerships and seeing what impacts those might have.

Chairman Migliaccio thanked Ms. Way and moved on to the next work group.

There was a motion made by Mr. Hawkins that ACCSH recommend that OSHA gather information about the I2P2 rule, at least in part, by holding a VPP stakeholders meeting specifically to discuss the development and implementation of an I2P2 rule. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

There a was an amendment to this motion entered by Tom Marrero who suggested that members of SHARP be included as well since they're a smaller stakeholder. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Sarah Shortall entered several Exhibits into the record.

I2P2 Workgroup

This meeting was co-chaired by Matt Gillen and Tish Davis, and there were 49 attendees. The meeting began with self-introductions, a review of the agenda, and also the committee charter.

Matt Gillen and Bill Perry of OSHA's Directorate of Standards and Guidance presented on the purpose of OSHA's rule, the six core elements OSHA is considering, and stakeholder comments to date. Bill described the upcoming steps in the rulemaking process and indicated that OSHA launched an I2P2 webpage with a number of resources, and OSHA may develop a white paper on I2P2 and post it here. He answered questions from ACCSH members and attendees, and he requested that ACCSH provide input and information on model programs OSHA could consider in construction.

Matt Gillen continued with updates, stating that the workgroup will work with OSHA to schedule a workgroup conference call, after OSHA completes the SBREFA review but before the next ACCSH meeting. Candidates for speakers for the next workgroup meeting included staff from either California or Washington State, to hear about how they handle small employer issues; other construction groups with model program experiences to share; or individuals such as John Mendeloff of Rand, who is evaluating state experiences with safety and health program requirements.

There was a motion entered by Chairman Migliaccio to accept the workgroup's report. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Sarah Shortall entered several Exhibits into the record.

Reinforced Concrete Post Tensioning Workgroup

This meeting was co-chaired by Dan Zarletti and Pete Stafford and there were 25 people in attendance. The meeting began with self-introductions followed by an outline of the meeting agenda to include the introduction of the issues by OSHA's Directorate of Construction. There was a presentation by Steve Rank representing the Iron Workers International Union and IMPACT, followed by an open forum for discussion, questions and answers. There were no recommendations made by the workgroup to the full ACCSH Committee.

The first presenter was Dean McKenzie from OSHA's Directorate of Construction. He handed out a table that listed rebar and post-tension fatalities found in OSHA's IMIS database for the period 2000 through 2009.

Following Mr. McKenzie's presentation, Steve Rank was asked to present to the workgroup. He distributed several handouts, including draft regulatory text for the new Reinforcing Steel and Post Tensioning Standard. Mr. Rank reported that the Iron Workers Union had assembled a coalition of diverse industry stakeholders who had been working on proposed language for this amendment for more than a year, and that many of those organizations joined him at the meeting.

Upon completion of Mr. Rank's presentation, several members of the Impact coalition spoke to reiterate the need for new regulations and confirmed their organization's full support of the proposed standard, citing specific examples of incidents or potential for catastrophic accidents if action is not taken.

The co-chairs opened the meeting for discussion, questions, and answers. Upon completion of the discussion, Frank Migliaccio moved that ACCSH recommend that OSHA initiate rulemaking to address reinforcing steel and post tensioning. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

There was a motion made to accept the workgroup reports. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Sarah Shortall entered several Exhibits into record.

Public Comment

Ben Bare thanked everyone for volunteering to work on the ACCSH Committee and told Frank Migliaccio that he deeply appreciated his support and it had been an honor and he will miss working with him.

Sarah Shortall thanked Frank for the 10 years she has worked with him, and she gave special recognition to Damon Bonneau from the Directorate of Construction.

Eric Harbin queried the group on the potential of having the next meeting during the early part of December. He stated that Fran Dougherty would send out a calendar with potential dates.

Chairman Migliaccio asked who the workgroups would contact if they decided to do the conference calls.

Eric Harbin replied they would contact the DOC staff person assigned to their workgroups for assistance.

Walter Jones moved to add Bill Hering to chair the Green PTD sub-group.

Chairman Migliaccio so moved.

Steve Hawkins suggested that they might start the meeting a half day on one day for the workgroups, a whole day for the workgroups, and then the meeting like it was done today.

Walter Jones asked if Dr. Michael's presentation was public record and how a copy could be obtained.

Sarah Shortall informed him that it was going to be put in the record and it was downloadable through the Federal Register (Regulations.gov).

Daniel Zarletti asked will there need to be time allowed to get it populated.

Sarah Shortall replied yes.

Letitia Davis asked if the minutes from the workgroup would be in it.

Sarah Shortall replied yes and they should be posted within about 2 weeks.

Thomas Marrero, a new member, stated that he would like to see a link to material prior to the meeting.

Dan Zarletti asked if there was some lead time that they had in order to announce dates.

Sarah Shortall stated it was 15 days.

Chairman Migliaccio asked who will certify the minutes of the current meeting.

Eric Harbin said that a decision has not been made.

Dan Zarletti wanted to know about dates in November for the next meeting.

Fran Dougherty explained that there were conflicts because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

There was a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

They concluded with singing "He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to Chairman Migliaccio because he was retiring.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:08 p.m.

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Certification

I have reviewed the minutes of the July 27-28, 2011 meeting of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health and do certify they are true and correct and may be entered into the record.

Ben Bare
Designated Federal Official