Springfield Construction Company Partners with OSHA to Protect Workers on New Civic Center Project
Downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, is being revitalized through several municipal projects. One of those projects is a particularly large leap forward in that effort. The civic center parking garage is being demolished and replaced by a new parking garage that will have 900 parking spaces, as well as an outdoor plaza and retail space. The old structure is being removed because of structural concerns and rising repair costs. It is being replaced by a structure that is safe, sustainable, and environmentally responsible.
Even before the new garage is finished and opened for use, it is being built with safety at the forefront. Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, a construction company also known as DOC, signed a strategic partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Springfield area office on January 16, 2024. The agreement is focused on the work being done to construct the Springfield parking garage. Work began on the garage in May 2023 and is expected to end in July 2025. The partnership agreement will last until the project is complete.
“DOC has a strong commitment to providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees; they are committed to safety and health as a core value and are always looking for ways to get even better,” said OSHA’s Area Director Mary Hoye in Springfield, Massachusetts.
As an enforcement agency, OSHA develops and enforces safety standards and rules. In addition to its enforcement role, OSHA helps employers comply with standards through its several compliance assistance programs.
“One of OSHA’s goals is to reduce the number of employers who need enforcement activities as a motivating factor. Because OSHA’s goal and DOC’s core values align, by working together we can reach even higher levels of commitment to safety and health in this project,” said Hoye.
“DOC has had a robust safety and health program for decades and we are always seeking continuous improvement, not only internally but also with our trade partners and other stakeholders,” said Nate Clinard, vice president of corporate safety at The O’Connell Companies.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statics National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2022, there were 1,056 fatalities among construction and extraction workers in 2022 – an 11 percent increase over 2021. OSHA and all occupational safety and health stakeholders are working to reverse this trend. That is why partnerships like this one are important for workers.
“In the past, our partnerships that involve construction projects have resulted in positive working relationships where the safety and health commitment is seen in every aspect of the work. They have low injury and illness rates, and many have no injuries and illnesses at all for the duration of the project,” said Hoye. “Employees feel heard and valued and everyone shares in the success.”
OSHA’s vision for worker protections is for every employer to make safety and health a core value in every workplace. To realize that vision, OSHA uses its enforcement tools and processes to compel some employers to increase their focus on workplace safety. The Strategic Partnership Program allows employers and other stakeholders to partner with OSHA to establish specific goals, strategies, and performance measures that are designed to protect workers in a specific workplace.
“Encouragement, assistance, and recognition are tools used to achieve the highest level of safety and health on the job, above and beyond minimum compliance with OSHA standards,” said Hoye. “All of this helps to proactively ‘shift the safety curve’ to a higher commitment to safety and health, even for an employer with an established and effective safety and health program.”
“Employer commitment to safety varies with some having a very low commitment, most having average commitment, and some having very high commitment,” added Hoye. “OSHA Springfield choses to partner with those employers who have a strong commitment to safety and have high motivation to provide a safe and healthful workplace.”.”
Strategic partnerships are effective not just while a project is underway, but for the long-term good of the community because of experience of workers and site leaders focusing on safety.
“Most people think of a parking garage as a solution to parking issues in the big city, but in this case it is much more. This parking garage is now a cooperative partnership site and will be an example of successful implementation of worksite operations and employee safety and health,” said Brett Fortin, OSHA compliance assistance specialist in Springfield.
“We know that more than 5,000 workers died last year from work-related injuries,” said Hoye. “Our job every day is to honor those workers by doing all we can to reduce the number of people who die needlessly on the job every year.”
Visit osha.gov/partnerships to learn more about the OSHA Strategic Partnership program and visit osha.gov/workers-memorial to learn more about the impact of workplace fatalities and Workers Memorial Day.
