The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) recently launched a Local Emphasis Program (LEP) targeting siding contractors and structural steel and pre-cast concrete contractors. This program is in response to a national increase in workplace injury and illness in these particular industries.
Between October 2015 and September 2016, MIOSHA plans to inspect more than 50 jobsites in these targeted areas, to focus on no fall protection plans, hazards from falling objects, failure to wear protective gear, no guards on power saws, damaged ladders, scaffold planks, and lack of fall arrest systems amongst other concerns.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that in 2012, 1,340 workers in structural steel and precast-concrete jobs nationwide suffered injuries, a 63 percent increase from 2011.
MIOSHA hopes that contractors will take advantage of free sessions with the MIOSHA Consultation Education and Training Division and that more training coupled with LEP will directly help to decrease workplace injury.
