Leadership in Dallas helps keep construction workers safe

Emergencies and disasters can happen anywhere at any time. When they do, people in communities want to know that the disaster response is managed effectively. The people who manage disaster responses must be in a safe place to do that work. That is why Dallas County is building a new emergency operations center.

Just as the people who work in the emergency operations center must be safe on the job, the people who build the operations center must also be safe on the job. That is why Azteca Enterprises, the general contractor for the project, signed a strategic partnership with the OSHA Dallas Area Office to protect those construction workers.

Azteca's interest in worker safety is clearly stated in the agreement document: "OSHA and Azteca Enterprises are committed to reducing workplace accidents and fatalities, improving safety and health programs through the direction of leadership, and encouraging accountability of all participants in this agreement."

Azteca will work to prevent work-related fatalities and injuries by “establishing a foundation of proactive measures.” Some of those measure include:

• Developing a model safety and health program
• Providing collaborative training opportunities between Azteca Enterprises and the OSHA regional and area offices
• Mentoring and training participating subcontractors and their employees

While every part of this partnership is valuable, the emphasis on subcontractors extends the reach of the agreement.

"Azteca has always been a leader in helping subcontractors and workers who may be marginalized for any number of reasons. They are a member of the Regional Hispanic Contractors and the Regional Black Contractors Association." said Greg Wynn, the OSHA area director in Dallas. "Their positive impact on workers throughout the metroplex is tremendous."

According to recent data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 167,600 nonfatal work injuries in the construction industry in 2023. That is a rate of 2.2 injuries for every 100 full-time construction workers. In 2022 there were 1,056 fatalities in the construction and extraction industries, according to the BLS. That is an 11 percent increase over 2022. Fatalities in the construction industry accounted for 40 percent of the foreign-born Hispanic or Latino worker deaths in 2022.

“For this project, at least 50 percent of the contractors will be small, minority owned businesses. The safety training and mentoring outlined in the partnership gives those subcontractors and workers the resources they need to be better, more successful, and safer on their next job or project,” said Eduardo Jimenez, an OSHA compliance assistance specialist in the Dallas area office.

Visit osha.gov/partnerships to learn more about the OSHA Strategic Partnership Program.