AGC’s Construction Safety & Health Conference, held virtually January 13 - 15, 2021, continued its tradition of providing a forum for safety and health professionals to stay connected and learn from their peers and industry experts. Thank you to all the attendees, speakers and sponsors for making the event a success! We look forward to seeing you at the 2021 Construction Safety, Health & Environmental Conference, July 20 – 22.

Safety depends on leaders who understand and support it from the top down, ensuring every major business decision is made with safety in mind. That is the definition of a CEO who gets it. Among the top eight honorees recognized this year as CEOs Who "Get It," determined by the National Safety Council, is AGC of America's own Steve Sandherr.

On Jan. 29, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued new guidance on protecting workers and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Per OSHA, the guidance is not a standard or regulation, creates no new legal obligations and the recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in recognizing and abating hazards in the workplace. Here you will find an analysis conducted by AGC of America highlighting the key differences in the recent guidance in comparison to previous guidance issued. If you have any questions regarding the new guidance, please contact Kevin Cannon at kevin.cannon@agc.org and/or Nazia Shah at nazia.shah@agc.org.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began collecting calendar year 2020 Form 300A data on Jan. 2, 2021. Employers must submit the form electronically by March 2, 2021.

Electronic submissions are required by establishments with 250 or more employees currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records, and establishments with 20-249 employees classified in specific industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.

Read the full trade release here and visit the Injury Tracking Application Electronic Submission of Injury and Illness Records to OSHA for more information and a link to the Injury Tracking Application.

In addition, from February 1 to April 30, employers are required to physically post their 300A summary data in places where employees are used to finding notices. Employers with 10 or fewer employees or who work in certain low-hazard industries are not required to post the summary.

AGC is requesting presentation proposals covering construction safety and health issues as well as those cross-over topics that would appeal to a broader audience of Safety, Health & Environmental (SH&E) professionals; for example leadership, management, training, general technologies, or risk and crisis management that use a mix of safety and health and environmental examples. The conference addresses the most critical safety, health and environmental issues impacting the business of construction, provides management guidance for professionals, and gives context for other construction professionals looking to understand the key concepts and round out their knowledge. For more information on speaker expectations, important deadlines, and how to submit your proposal, click here.

On Jan. 13, the U.S. Department of Labor announced adjustments to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) civil penalty amounts based on cost-of-living adjustments for 2021. OSHA's maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations will increase from $13,494 per violation to $13,653 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations will increase from $134,937 per violation to $136,532 per violation. Read the full trade release here and visit the OSHA Penalties page for more information.

 

Stay in the know! Head to the news feed in the AGC Connection app for the latest legislative updates from the new administration. Download here if you haven’t already!

Mindy Schultz, a veteran health and safety professional, is joining Barton Malow Company, a member of multiple AGC chapters, as a safety director. Mindy will focus on building on Barton Malow Company’s safety culture and developing initiatives and processes that improve its safety results.

This 9th edition manual contains information on a variety of safety topics and is designed to assist construction contractors in preventing accidents on their jobsites. Contains 43 chapters and topics covering: Personal Protection, First Aid, Fire Hazards and Prevention, Scaffolding, Steel Erection, Motor Vehicles, Pipelines, Boilers, Explosives, Road Building, Mobile Asphalt Plants and many more.