Thursday, June 26, 2008
Foulke defends OSHA's construction industry enforcement
Amid a rash of high-profile construction accidents involving cranes, OSHA administrator Edwin G. Foulke Jr. defended the agency's "strong enforcement" of the industry's safety and health standards.
During fiscal year 2007, about 51 percent of total OSHA inspections were conducted in the construction industry, Foulke testified June 24 before the House Education and Labor Committee.
A special OSHA advisory committee of construction industry experts negotiated and proposed an updated construction cranes and derricks rule in 2004, but OSHA has not yet finalized the rule. Foulke said the agency is in the "final stages" of developing the updated rule.
Committee Chairman Rep. George Miller, D-CA, said recent incidents involving cranes have highlighted "concerns about whether government health and safety agencies are doing enough to ensure safe working conditions at construction sites." Miller also noted that 12 construction workers have died in construction accidents on the Las Vegas Strip in less than two years.