SC&RA Joins Construction Industry Safety Coalition and Cosigns DOL Covid-19 Letter

(January 27, 2021) - As a member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), SC&RA has cosigned a letter to the Department of Labor’s new Deputy Assistant Secretary James Frederick. The Coalition’s purpose in writing the letter was to inform Frederick of the work CISC does to keep construction workers safe and to request an opportunity to meet with him to discuss ways that the Coalition may assist the Agency in its efforts related to developing guidance for COVID-19 prevention in construction workplaces. Click here to read the full letter.

The Coalition acknowledged in the letter that a priority of the DOL will be further addressing COVID-19 from a workplace safety and health perspective. President Biden’s recently issued “Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety” has tasked the Agency with several actions, including the issuance of clear guidance regarding protecting employees from COVID-19 in the workplace and considering whether an Emergency Temporary Standard is warranted to address the pandemic.

Additional points contained within the letter pointed to several challenges: shortages of N95 filtering facepiece respirators; a possible requirement to use FFRs that could impact the overall availability of respiratory protection for other hazardous exposures; and certain testing mandates proving to be infeasible due to testing unavailability. The Coalition emphasized that OSHA must consider whether any regulatory and policy actions will have a significant economic impact on small businesses in construction, where firms with fewer than 20 workers make up approximately 80 percent of the industry.

The CISC is comprised of 30 trade associations representing virtually every aspect of the construction industry and was formed to provide data and information to OSHA on regulatory, interpretive, and policy initiatives. The CISC speaks for small, medium, and large contractors; general contractors; subcontractors; and union contractors alike and represents all sectors of the construction industry, including commercial building, heavy industrial production, home building, road repair, specialty trade contractors and material suppliers. For more information, contact Beth O’Quinn.