Background

The OSHA and Alberici Healthcare, LLC (Alberici) partnership for the SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital Campus Renewal Project in St. Louis, MO was signed on June 20, 2018. Supporting partners included: the SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital, the Building and Construction Trades Council, the Carpenters District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity, and the Eastern Missouri Laborers' District Council. The partnership concluded on July 31, 2020.

SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital is a replacement hospital for SSM Health. The project included construction of a new 316 bed, 802,000 square foot hospital, an ambulatory care center, parking structure, customer-owned substation and central utility plant. There were more than 700 workers onsite during peak construction.

The overarching goals for the partnership included: creating an injury free safety culture, establishing a working relationship between labor and the management team, promoting effective safety management systems, training and education, enhancing job hazard recognition and implementing hazard controls.

Covid-19 Best Practices

The COVID-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented safety challenge. With just six months until project completion, the team was responsible for ensuring the health and safety of about 700 workers and 56 employers onsite during the global pandemic. The team quickly established processes for daily screening, contact tracing, cleaning, sanitation, and communications. Overall, the team was able to ensure the safety of the workers onsite with no work stoppages due to Covid-19.

Safety and Health Excellence Achieved

The partners established a robust safety and health culture on the project. The entire project team, OSHA, SSM Health, Alberici, and the trades partners developed a strong safety culture on the worksite.

The project team formed a Safety Committee comprised of Alberici safety professionals and dedicated, safety-oriented, staff from each of the trade partners. The team met every Friday to discuss safety performance onsite. They hosted monthly jobsite safety audits with field representatives, brought together a wide range of expertise, provided a forum for open discussions and created a cooperative environment for safety onsite.

Activities to promote safety and health included:

• Weekly site-wide Monday morning safety stand-downs duri ng the pandemic
• Alberici’s safety team answering questions and engaging in dialogue with the trades.
• Empowering field crews to help resolve safety challenges, such as the creation of the “Hook Up Before You Go Up” campaign to reduce fall hazards while working from scissors lifts.
• Utilizing safety personnel, who had previously worked in the trades, to develop a rapport with workers onsite.
• Developing a weekly safety newsletter including observations, incidents, and education.
• Hosting quarterly stand-downs aligned with OSHA’s regional focuses, including fall protection, suicide prevention, etc.
• Engaging with SSM Health to help them build and promote their own safety culture.

Suicide Prevention Safety Stand Down

During September 2019, Alberici, the OSHA Area Office, the AGC of Missouri, and Washington University, conducted a “Suicide Prevention and Awareness in Construction Stand Down”. This event reached nearly 600 team members and addressed important mental health issues within the construction industry. Alberici provided workers with an Awareness Token displaying the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number to use and share if a colleague was experiencing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Zero OSHA Recordables

The Partnership worked to reduce the injuries and illnesses, with Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR), Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) Rate, and Days Away from Work (DAFW) rates compared to the 2016 BLS National Average serving as the baseline and the most current BLS National Average for NAICS 23. The 2016 rates, ad TCIR of 3.2, DART of 1.9 and DAFW Rate of 1.3 served as the baseline for the project. The project amassed over 2,000,000 work hours, with a TCIR rate of 0.81 (75% below BLS averages) during the first year and a TCIIR rate of 0.46 (86% below BLS average) during the second year of the partnership. The project was completed with a DART rate of 0.00 (100% below BLS averages) during the term of the partnership

Submitted by:

Corey Hayes, Alberici Constructors, St. Louis, MO and Jo Beth Cholmondeley, Compliance Assistance Manager, OSHA, Region VII, Kansas City, MO