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Monday, February 06, 2012
Home Builders Say OSHA Rules Are Killing Business
Anger from home builders directed toward OSHA seems to be heating up. Small home builders have been complaining about new OSHA rules and the increased enforcement. They plan to lobby Congress to pass sweeping reforms of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
An article in the Witchita Eagle reports: "Owners of small home-construction businesses say they’re watching their livelihoods collapse under safety regulations they feel are more about punishing them than protecting their workers. 'They have not been making a safer workplace, but they are killing businesses and they're financially killing families,' said Gary Herndon, who operates a local roofing company."
Last March the Witchita Eagle reported on a Witchita roofing contractor that was fined $116,000 by OSHA. (Read the article here.)
Three other examples include a $185,000 proposed penalty against an Atlanta roofing contractor that OSHA announced last November 29th. In the OSHA Quick Takes news for June 15, 2011 OSHA reports on fining a roofing contractor $250,000. And on April 5, 2011 OSHA announced a $58,200 proposed penalty against a roofing contractor in Newton, Kansas for exposing workers to fall hazards and other violations
On December 10, 2010 we reported on OSHA rescinding a Clinton-era directive that had allowed residential builders to bypass fall protection requirements.
Last November the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star reported that home builders were struggling with OSHA rules.The article points out that in some cases there are no realistic ways to comply with OSHA rules or by complying a greater safety hazard results. For example, the article reports:
"Take framing with a nail gun, for example. Up to now, the worker's been doing a lot of the work bent over around his feet and his hands, so if he screwed up, he hit himself in the hand or foot with a nail. 'It hurts like hell, but in a few days you're OK,' Rezac said. The new rules push the framer into an upright position shooting at a right angle to the framer's body in a way that Rezac, among other builders, believes creates more of a safety hazard than it might solve."
An article in the Witchita Eagle reports: "Owners of small home-construction businesses say they’re watching their livelihoods collapse under safety regulations they feel are more about punishing them than protecting their workers. 'They have not been making a safer workplace, but they are killing businesses and they're financially killing families,' said Gary Herndon, who operates a local roofing company."
Last March the Witchita Eagle reported on a Witchita roofing contractor that was fined $116,000 by OSHA. (Read the article here.)
Three other examples include a $185,000 proposed penalty against an Atlanta roofing contractor that OSHA announced last November 29th. In the OSHA Quick Takes news for June 15, 2011 OSHA reports on fining a roofing contractor $250,000. And on April 5, 2011 OSHA announced a $58,200 proposed penalty against a roofing contractor in Newton, Kansas for exposing workers to fall hazards and other violations
On December 10, 2010 we reported on OSHA rescinding a Clinton-era directive that had allowed residential builders to bypass fall protection requirements.
Last November the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star reported that home builders were struggling with OSHA rules.The article points out that in some cases there are no realistic ways to comply with OSHA rules or by complying a greater safety hazard results. For example, the article reports:
"Take framing with a nail gun, for example. Up to now, the worker's been doing a lot of the work bent over around his feet and his hands, so if he screwed up, he hit himself in the hand or foot with a nail. 'It hurts like hell, but in a few days you're OK,' Rezac said. The new rules push the framer into an upright position shooting at a right angle to the framer's body in a way that Rezac, among other builders, believes creates more of a safety hazard than it might solve."
Labels: Construction Safety, occupational safety standards, OSHA, OSHA Inspections, Roofing Safety
posted by Steve Hudgik
Go To This Workplace Safety Post: Read 1 Comments |
1 Comments:
There are some people posted useful thought and some are not, but this, it is among the best post I’ve read. Simple but thoughtful.
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