Category: Occupational Safety
When it Comes to COVID Emergency Regulations, Have a Plan
Addressing Safety on the Construction Site
Originally posted 2017-09-25 15:59:36.
First of all, I’d like to say that I am not an attorney. Anything I say in this article should be taken with a grain of salt. All of the information that I have written in this article comes from personal work experience on the worksite.
Each year, construction sites around the nation see hundreds of thousands of injuries related to equipment operation and situations that could be avoidable with the right precautions in place. In 2011 alone, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, there were 4,069 workers killed on a construction site, most of which were avoidable. Though some sort of on-site problems are unavoidable, they can be minimized with simple practices that every construction site should have in place, whether it is the building of a high-rise building or a simple house renovation.
Virginia Occupational Safety Conference Reflections
Originally posted 2017-01-31 10:45:32.
The audience at this particular conference was a mix of VOSH personnel and safety officers for various construction companies. My talk is very much directed at contractors and how to better work with the paperwork and the VOSH inspectors. While having actual VOSH employees in the audience, instead of just contractors, I had to make sure that my approach was more balanced. I even got a comment from a regional director at VOSH about this more balanced approach.
Even more than the actual talking, I gained some insight (as I do at each of these) from the questions and comments of the attendees. Many of the attendees have been in the safety game for years and have insightful questions and comments. They also tend to share their real life experiences. These experiences help me see the best way to give what I hope is practical advice to my clients. In short, sometimes I learn as much as I teach.
Another great aspect of these conferences is the friendships made and rekindled (including my pals from Circle Safety). Many of these folks come every year and many I only see at this conference. Like the AGC conference, I always meet someone new and always spend some time with some people that I already know and then get to know them better. As always, getting to know folks in a context aside from attorney-client only helps me be a better lawyer.
I recommend that you attend some of these trade conferences when you can. You’ll learn something. I know I did.
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
Update: New VOSH Maximum Penalties as of July 1
As those who read Construction Law Musings know, as a construction attorney, I want to assure that not only are my clients successful in their litigation/dispute resolution endeavors, but that they stay out of trouble. I take my problem solving and advising roles quite seriously.
As part of this role as advisor, I want to let those that read Musings know that as of July 1, 2017 the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Administration increased their maximum penalties for safety violations. The new maximum fines are as follows:
Type Violation Old Penalty New Penalty
Serious or Other-Than-Serious $7,000 $12,471
Willful or Repeat $70,000 $124,709
Failure to Abate $7,000/day Unchanged
Criminal or Willful $70,000 Unchanged
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.