OSHA Uses ‘Construction Blitz’ For Enforcement Surge

Construction contractors need to be on high alert for OSHA Compliance Officers trolling for violations in plain view.

 

Construction contractors in the Central Texas area need to be on high alert for OSHA Compliance Officers trolling 34 cities counties surrounding Austin in search of violations in plain view.  San Marcos and New Braunfels are both in OSHA’s Austin Region territory.

 

As employers should know by now, Compliance Safety & Health Officers (CSHO) with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) across the nation are under incredible pressure to focus on increasing:

 

1. The number of inspections;

2. The number of citations; and

3. The amount of penalties issued to employers.

 

When OSHA Area Offices notice their totals for inspections, citations and penalties lagging behind forecasted goals for the year, the OSHA Office Area Directors may guide CSHOs to conduct so-called drive-by inspections for a short term –a practice of getting in the car and driving near construction sites in an effort to find OSHA violations in progress.  These drive-bys are also known as “Construction Blitzes.”

 

Construction Blitzes usually last two weeks to two months, they include residential and commercial construction, and they are effective in getting the OSHA Area Office numbers back on schedule for the year.

 

These Construction Blitzes are very effective for OSHA.  For example, a CSHO will drive by an active construction site and look for faulty scaffolding use, lacking fall protection, use of cranes (targets for quick inspections) and improper trenching, all of which are usually very easy to see from the road.  Once seen, the CSHO gets out of the car and starts inspecting, which will certainly yield citations and penalties against the subcontractor, and sometimes, against the General Contractor as well.

 

How long will this Construction Blitz last?

 

The current Central Texas Construction Blitz has been going for the past two weeks and is expected to continue for another month or so, but a source says “The blitz will be over when the enforcement numbers get back in keeping with the forecast for the year.”