THE hard hat has become the symbol of the construction industry. With this widely supported "branding" of construction as a safety-conscious industry came substantive reductions in injuries and illnesses--a 47 percent reduction, from 15.3 per hundred full-time construction workers in 1976 to 7.9 in 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
IT'S a good idea to monitor OSHA's Standard Interpretations site on a regular basis. You can easily find the site by clicking on the "interpretations" link right from OSHA's www.osha.gov homepage.
FALLS have long been the bane of construction work in this country. Last fall, the third edition of "The Construction Chart Book" from the Center to Protect Workers' Rights pinpointed falls as the leading cause of death for two construction occupations in 1999.
AFTER a long period of dormancy, federal OSHA has picked up activity in the area of hearing loss prevention rulemaking. Activity is focused in the areas of recordkeeping and hearing conservation in construction.
The Miami-based company faces a proposed $258,935 in penalties.