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Monday, November 21, 2011
Do New OSHA Standards Raise Costs Of New Homes & Put Workers At Risk?
An article in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star reports that a new OSHA standard requiring fall protection for workers framing roofs on new homes is significantly increasing the cost of new homes and may actually be making workers less safe. The article reports that:
"Regulations intended to protect residential construction workers aloft from falling from six feet or higher went into effect earlier this year, with some forbearance by OSHA, while builders, their advocates and OSHA attempted to reconcile them with the real circumstances the builders and their employees work in."
The article reports that builders are reporting increased costs of $10,000 to $20,000 per home. In addition, complying with the OSHA standard is exposing workers to greater dangers from nail guns and scaffolding erected on loose fill. It may be the unintended consequences are worse than the cure. Read the article here and let us know what you think.
In a separate article in the Journal Star OSHA's Jordan Barab defends the new standards stating that they were overdue. This article quotes Barab:
"First of all, falls are a major hazard in the construction industry," Barab said. "They're the leading cause of death in constrction and a major problem in residential. Between 2005 and 2009, 545 workers were killed in residential construction, 191 by falling off roofs. That doesn't even include disabling injuries. There are thousands of injuries every year from residential construction. We felt, given the technology and feasibility advances, and seeing too many (injuries and deaths,) changing the temporary directive was long overdue."
You can read this article here. It may be the new standards will do as intended and increase safety. What do you think? Your comments are welcome.
"Regulations intended to protect residential construction workers aloft from falling from six feet or higher went into effect earlier this year, with some forbearance by OSHA, while builders, their advocates and OSHA attempted to reconcile them with the real circumstances the builders and their employees work in."
The article reports that builders are reporting increased costs of $10,000 to $20,000 per home. In addition, complying with the OSHA standard is exposing workers to greater dangers from nail guns and scaffolding erected on loose fill. It may be the unintended consequences are worse than the cure. Read the article here and let us know what you think.
In a separate article in the Journal Star OSHA's Jordan Barab defends the new standards stating that they were overdue. This article quotes Barab:
"First of all, falls are a major hazard in the construction industry," Barab said. "They're the leading cause of death in constrction and a major problem in residential. Between 2005 and 2009, 545 workers were killed in residential construction, 191 by falling off roofs. That doesn't even include disabling injuries. There are thousands of injuries every year from residential construction. We felt, given the technology and feasibility advances, and seeing too many (injuries and deaths,) changing the temporary directive was long overdue."
You can read this article here. It may be the new standards will do as intended and increase safety. What do you think? Your comments are welcome.
Labels: Construction / Installation, Construction Safety, fall protection, OSHA Standards
posted by Steve Hudgik
Go To This Workplace Safety Post: Read 2 Comments |
2 Comments:
Great blog post. It’s useful information.
Rooftop Safety Harness
Hmmmm very nice information which will be you share ... thanks
Safety Harnesses
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