According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, falls are the leading cause of private sector worker fatalities in the construction industry. Everyone who works at heights, whether it’s on a roof, scaffolding or the edge of a tall building, should have properly fitting safety harnesses, yet not all contractors have the supplies they need to better protect women in construction. To help address this, Autodesk is funding a grant program with the Associated General Contractors of America to supply select, in-need member contractors with fall protection harnesses sized for women who work at heights. The program comes at a … Read more
CIS Sponsors In-House Accredited Training, Assessment
As an NCCER sponsoring organization, Crane Industry Services, LLC can help companies benefit from accreditation. In addition to sponsoring other crane and rigging training providers, CIS now sponsors Graycor Southern Inc., a heavy industrial contractor based in Atlanta, Georgia. Under CIS’s NCCER sponsorship, companies have access to training and assessments backed by teams of subject matter experts. The NCCER programs are endorsed by the National Craft Professionals Association. NCCER’s crane operator certifications are ANSI accredited and OSHA recognized, which meets compliance regulations. As a sponsoring organization, CIS offers its clients cost savings and a long list of administrative benefits. Companies … Read more
OSHA Requests Information on Table 1 of Silica Standard for Construction
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is requesting information and comment on Table 1 of the agency’s Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction. OSHA seeks information on additional engineering and work practice control methods to effectively limit exposure to silica for the equipment and tasks currently listed on Table 1. The agency is also requesting information about other construction equipment and tasks that generate silica that it should consider adding to Table 1, along with information about their associated engineering and work practice control methods. In addition, OSHA is seeking comments about whether to revise paragraph (a)(3) … Read more
Alliance Renewed between OSHA, CPWR
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration and CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training continue to recognize the value of maintaining a collaborative relationship to foster safety and health practices and programs to improve American workplaces. To that end, OSHA and CPWR renewed the Alliance signed Jan. 11, 2017 with a continued emphasis on reducing construction-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities and supporting OSHA’s priority initiatives. Specifically, both organizations are committed to providing construction workers, employers and others, including members of other construction alliances and the public with information, guidance and access to safety and health research … Read more
Methodist University Hospital Vertical Expansion Opens
A $275-million, 450,000-square-foot patient tower at Methodist University Hospital, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is complete. The nine-story patient tower was constructed on top of the already existing emergency department and is part of the hospital’s campus expansion project, which also includes a 700-space parking plaza. Called Shorb Tower, it is named in honor of recently retired Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare President and CEO Gary Shorb. The expansion allows for a 36% increase in ICU capacity and a 20% increase in the hospital’s operating room capacity. The next phase of the project includes 94,000 square feet of renovations to existing patient … Read more