Florida Construction Law

Rules to protect construction workers from falls remained the most commonly violated standards on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) list of most-cited violations for fiscal year 2017, which ended Sept. 30, according to Bloomberg BNA. However, the number of safety violations demonstrated a widespread decrease after years of dropping total inspection numbers. There were about 9,000 fewer inspections in fiscal year 2016 compared with fiscal year 2011. The preliminary violation numbers for last fiscal year also were calculated during a period that was three to four weeks longer than for this year's preliminary numbers. The numbers are preliminary because OSHA inspectors have up to six months following an inspection to issue citations. Construction violations were the most commonly cited, which is not surprising considering construction site visits account for about half of OSHA's inspections. Other construction fall-related violations were lad...

Navigating the OSHA inspection and citation process can be a difficult task. However, if you are prepared prior to receiving an inspection, you are less likely to receive a citation and more likely to enforce applicable safety standards on your projects. This article will focus on a few of the more significant safety tips that contractors should consider implementing on their construction projects. First and foremost, every contractor should have a written safety and health manual that adequately addresses work place safety and is updated frequently. If you have Spanish-speaking workers, your safety manual should be in Spanish as well as English. Each employee should sign and indicate that they have received a copy of the safety manual. The safety manual should be in each truck used by the contractor so that if OSHA requests a copy of the safety manual, the person in charge of the job will have access to the manual upon request. In addition to having an effective safety manual, the...