A Model for Advancing Safety & Health in Construction Industry

Masonry R2P Partnership

JOURNAL: ISSUE 3 - 2015

In June, the Masonry r2p Partnership was recognized for its commitment to safety at the first annual seminar, r2p in Construction: Science, Strategies & Partnerships to Advance Safety & Health, which focused on better ways to move advancements in safety and health from the field of research into practice, or the hands of employers and workers. The seminar drew Representatives from various construction industry sectors, safety and health researchers, labor, contractors, OSHA, NIOSH, and the insurance industry gathered at this seminar, put on by CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training, to discuss research to practice (or r2p) approaches, successes, challenges and the critical role stakeholder partnerships play.

At the opening session, Dr. Charlotte Chang, Associate Project Scientist at the University of California, Berkeley and a member of CPWR’s r2p team, cited the Masonry r2p Partnership as an example of how r2p works in the construction industry. She went on to describe ways in which it has engaged in the three key steps to move research to practice – and ultimately reduce the risk for injuries or illness:

• improve awareness of hazards through materials, websites, and educational efforts; increase the availability and awareness of equipment and controls by working with manufacturers;
• improve workplace practices through training programs; and
• support or participate in academic research on existing and emerging hazards facing masonry and other construction workers.

Guest speaker BAC Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano addressed the seminar on behalf of the Masonry r2p Partnership. “The idea of working together wasn’t new … Our three organizations [BAC, IMI and ICE] have ongoing relationships. While we have all worked on safety and health research projects before,” Scarano added, “through the Partnership, we now have a system for all three national organizations to get input from a broad cross-section of members, contractors and trainers on safety and health priorities and to collectively promote research-based solutions.” He emphasized, “You need labor and management at the national level to be onboard, as well as the buy-in from the trainers.”

In describing the Partnership’s work and efforts in coordination with CPWR to track its progress, Scarano said “A key challenge relates to the different hats each of us wears within our organizations. We all have competing demands on our time, and sometimes we don’t agree on how to solve programs.” Using silica as example, he noted: “My union strongly supports the proposed silica standard. In fact, one of the other hats that I wear is Chair of the Building Trades Silica Subcommittee. Our contractor association opposes the standard…But, because of our Partnership, we have still been able to jointly take some positive steps to address this hazard, including supporting CPWR’s silica website and working with researchers to find controls for silica-generating tasks.”

Scarano also noted that the close collaboration of the three groups has been very much in evidence in publicizing the Partnership’s work to promote the use of gloves [see box below] to protect workers hands from skin disorders, cuts and other hand injuries. That cooperation, according to Scarano, has helped raise BAC contractors’ awareness of the importance of providing task- and martial-appropriate gloves and members’ awareness of the need to use gloves and take them on and off properly, and to involve training staff in getting the word out to apprenticeship and other training programs. (Visit www.ChooseHandSafety.org to learn more on how to protect your hands.)

Going forward, Scarano said, “the Partnership will build on its success and role as a model r2p partnership by continuing to work with CPWR to document what makes a sustainable partnership, to develop and evaluate new strategies to translate research into practical tools and materials that workers and contractors can use, and to take on new research projects to address hazards of primary concern to BAC members, contractors, and their families.

BAC Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano outlines the safety and health achievements that have come from working as an industry partnership.

Hearing Loss Can’t Be Reversed, But it Can Be Prevented

Protecting workers from job-related hearing loss is one of the priority issues identified by BAC members and contractors in surveys and discussions. (See Contractor & Member Surveys Highlight Partnership Priorities, Opportunities, and Successes; Issue 2, 2015.) Job-related hearing loss is a serious issue for masonry workers, with roughly 2 out of 3 exposed to hazardous levels of noise during a typical workday. The Masonry r2p Partnership has been working to raise awareness of the risk and the steps workers can take to protect their hearing and contractors can take to protect their employees. 

Wearing appropriate hearing protection is one option. Using low noise equipment is another. Even a small change in an equipment’s noise level can make a big difference – using a tool just 3dBA’s lower can cut the noise energy reaching a worker’s ear in half! NIOSH’s BuyQuiet program can help contractors identify equipment that is lower in noise. To learn more, visit NIOSH’s Buy-Quiet online resource http://1.usa.gov/1SdIxMH and watch the video at: http://bit.ly/1NUoFgk.

Hand Safety and Gloves

OSHA requires that PPE, specifically gloves and boots, be used when workers’ skin will come into contact with Portland cement (e.g., while performing terrazzo work; mixing mortar; using mortar, and jobsite mixing of concrete) or other material that could cause injury to the skin. For your safety, your employer must provide and you should use appropriate PPE whenever you are engaged in such tasks. OSHA will inspect for appropriate PPE on jobsites.