Florida Construction Law

Haley & Aldrich, an environmental and engineering consulting firm, has issued an  Action Report: Stop Talking About Safety Culture and Get Real About Risk . The report addresses the ways companies can prevent workplace incidents and recommends that manufacturers shift their focus to risk-competence rather than a safety culture focused on compliance alone.  The report dispels safety myths, addresses problems with a safety compliance culture and identifies strategies companies can take to reduce incidents in the workplace. “We’ve seen time and time again how some manufacturers are lulled into a false sense of security by complying with safety checklists instead of taking a good, hard look into their potential areas of risk,” said Danyle Hepler, associate scientist, at Haley & Aldrich. “For example, on the day that the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 people, ironically, executives were at the facility to celebrate the company’s seventh year wi...

After a few legal fits and starts, as well as extra time for review and input, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's new silica standard for construction is scheduled to go into effect about a month from now, on Sept. 23. What that means is contractors who engage in activities that create silica dust — that is, respirable crystalline silica — such as by cutting, grinding or blasting materials like concrete, stone and brick, must meet a stricter standard for how much of that dust workers inhale. The same goes for employers of tradespeople working around such activities. The new standard also specifies what services employers must make available to workers who are exposed to high levels of silica dust and the training required of those who are at risk. Inhaling silica dust can lead to silicosis, an curable lung disease that can be fatal if severe enough. Those with too much silica exposure can also develop lung cancer, kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmon...

Occupational injuries and illnesses are estimated to cost the United States as much as $250 billion a year. So cutting down on insurance costs in this area makes huge financial sense. In the construction industry, many companies are turning to wearable technology to better manage risks and incidents – and there are insurance benefits to be leveraged from this. Triax Technologies is one company working in construction wearable tech. The Connecticut company launched its sensor technology this year. Pete Schermerhorn, chief operating officer at Triax, said his company’s product is worn on all workers’ belts on a construction site. The sensors track all workers’ whereabouts, have an emergency locator button for accidents and injuries. “It’s a safety system for construction. If someone slips, trips, or falls on site, this sends an automatic notification [to a site supervisor] that someone has hit the ground. The system logs how high they fell, where they fell on site, and who else w...

Short of monitoring employees in the field, it can be difficult to know if they are working to the highest level of productivity. Contractors should consider employment agreements for their employees that spell out expectations and include performance metrics tied into bonuses. In the case of salespersons, it is somewhat easier to know how much of their time is productive as their compensation is directly tied into the number and dollar volume of jobs sold. The salesperson’s employment agreement should specify whether he or she earns a salary plus commission or commission only.  Developing annual sales goals for the team is the best metric to evaluate productivity and whether each person is performing optimally. With multiple members on the sales team, it will be easy to identify underperformers and address the issue. It’s much harder to monitor productivity of other employees, such as installation crews, project managers, and field supervisors. This is where performance metr...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration just delayed the compliance deadline for a rule requiring employers submit worker illness and injury data electronically to the agency. The Labor Department on Wednesday suspended an Obama-era rule requiring that companies electronically report their injury and illness records, a move that effectively keeps these records from being publicly disclosed for the immediate future. Several business groups, including the Associated Builders & Contractors, Associated General Contractors of America and the National Association of Home Builders, had challenged the 2016 Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule in court and lobbied the administration to jettison it on the grounds that it could unfairly damage the reputation of some of their members. Companies have been required to maintain worker injury and illness logs since 1971, and between 1995 and 2012, OSHA had required about 180,000 establishments in high-hazard industrie...

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...

The struggle between safety and production continues: A new study finds that managers, struggling to meet earnings projections, are willing to sacrifice worker safety and health. New research conducted by Professors Judson Caskey of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Naim Bugra Ozel from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas and published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics finds that managers of U.S. companies facing market pressures to meet earning expectations may risk the health and safety of workers to please investors. Ozel and Caskey found the cause of the increase in injuries to be related to efforts to increase production and profits by increasing employee workloads and spending less on training or preventative maintenance. Companies that comfortably beat or completely missed analysts' projections had lower injury and illness rates than those companies which appeared to be scrambling to meet or slight exceed analysts' projections. ...

The new rule requires employers in high-hazard industries to send OSHA injury and illness data contained on the OSHA 300 logs. In recent years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has dramatically increased rulemaking that has impacted the roofing industry. The latest rule requires the public disclosure of workplace injuries and illnesses in an effort to improve tracking efforts and transparency in roofing and other industries. While those are worthy endeavors, this final rule regarding the digital reporting of injuries and illness is, sadly, yet another example of OSHA leadership enacting a final rule without first understanding the real-world implications that the rule will have on the construction industry — roofing in particular. The new rule, which went into effect recently requires employers in high-hazard industries such as roofing to send OSHA injury and illness data contained on the OSHA 300 logs. OSHA will then post this informati...

As of the most recent election cycle, 26 states and the District of Columbia have permitted either recreational or medicinal use of marijuana. Contractors and employers will be faced with evaluating their drug policies and must be aware of what the courts have to say about the matter. It’s important to remember that while states have legalized its use, marijuana is still illegal under federal law. This means that contractors working under a government contract or for a federal employer are prohibited from using marijuana in any way – even for medicinal purposes. This counts for both on-site use as well as off-site or at-home use. While federal law makes it clear that an employee who fails a drug test while working under government contract or for a federal employer can be fired by the roofing contractor, the laws vary by state. Two issues up for continued discussion include handling employees who arrive at the job site under the influence of marijuana and the employer’s right to a...

Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) released a midterm update to its  Rating the States Report , which reviews the progress the 18 most hurricane-prone coastal states along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast have made in strengthening their residential building codes.  Rating the States Midterm Update  reviews building code activity in the same states featured in IBHS's original report released in January 2012, assessing them according to whether they have taken positive action, negative action or no action to improve their codes during the ensuing 18 months. Although this update does not re-score each state, it discusses actions taken to provide more current insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each state system. IBHS plans to issue a new report in 2015, which revises the rating for each state based on actions taken since the original report.  The midterm update reports that most of the states with strong building code systems ...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has announced the release of a new free app for mobile devices aimed at improving extension ladder safety. An app is a program that runs inside another service.   Falls from ladders are an important source of preventable construction injuries. Misjudging the ladder angle is an important risk factor for a fall. If the ladder is set too steeply, it is more likely to fall back or slide away during use; if it is set too shallow, the bottom can slide out.   The NIOSH Ladder Safety app has an angle of inclination indicator, making it easy to set an extension ladder at the proper angle of 75.5 degrees. The app's inclination indicator allows most mobile devices to provide a visual and audible signal when the ladder angle is set correctly. The Ladder Safety app includes additional information about ladder safety, such as ladder selection, inspection, accessorizing and use.   The NIOSH Division of Safety Resea...

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has announced the release of a new publication,  Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers: A Basic Guide for Preventing Manual Material Handling Injuries , which also is available in Spanish. Home building is physically demanding work, and manual material handling may be the most difficult part of the job. These activities increase the risk of painful strains and sprains and more serious soft tissue injuries. This publication was written especially for young and less experienced home building workers but provides basic information about readily available work practices and equipment that can help new and experienced workers, contractors and builders prevent serious manual material handling injuries. Original drawings and nontechnical language are used to describe manual material handling injury risks and how these risks can be reduced or eliminated for certain activities. Simple Solutions for Home Building Worke...

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, on average, more than four roofing workers die each month because of falls.  And the National Safety Council reports more than 6,000 people die each year from falling from roofs and ladders. Consequently, before starting any type of roofing job, whether it is a complete roof system replacement, repair, or basic maintenance, there are a few steps you can take to minimize the risk of falls.   Issue employees appropriate safety equipment and educate them about how to properly use and wear hard hats, harnesses and suitable footwear.   Always inspect harnesses for tears, splits, rips, and buckle or D-ring damage. Place a great deal of importance on employees taking preventative safety measures. Ladders should be kept away from electrical wires and electrical boxes, consider using ladders made from nonconductive materials such as fiberglass. You should contact the building owner and local power company before starting...

New OSHA safety materials on trenching for underground utility contractors: http://www.abc.org/Newsroom2/News_Letters/2011/Issue_41/New_Safety_Publications_on_Trenching_Operations_Issued_by_OSHA.aspx Trenton H. Cotney Board Certified in Construction Law Trent Cotney, P.A. 1207 N Franklin St, Ste 222 Tampa, FL 33602 (813) 579-3278 www.trentcotney.com