Masonry Magazine July 2005 Page. 17
The Voice of the Mason Contractor
FOR THE MOST PART, MAY 10, 2005, WAS LIKE ANY OTHER TUESDAY. To say it was a slow, uneventful news day might be putting it mildly. However, this day was far from normal, as a quiet meeting was held at the UIS Capitol that may revolutionize the masonry trade forever.
On this day, Roy Swindal Owner of Masonry Arts, Inc., Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) Vice President for Region B, and MCAA State Chairman for Alabama testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety to encourage using a "Training Exchange Program" between mason contractors and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance officers.
"Some of our qualified Safety Directors would have the opportunity to walk through with OSHA compliance officers and others who write standards and guidelines and have the opportunity to demonstrate, on the job, what sort of problems they encounter with particular standards and how difficult it is for them to comply," explains Marian Marshall, MCAA's Director of Government Affairs and creator of the Training Exchange Program concept.
Although there are many benefits accompanying this proposal, the main rationale behind the Training Exchange Program is to lessen the number of erroneous citations being given to mason contractors.
Mason contractors and the MCAA have had to battle OSHA on several different issues over the years. Most recently, MCAA took on OSHA concerning having to remove materials from scaffolding at the end of the day, as well as explaining that grouting the wall was part of the construction process and how bracing both sides of the wall before completing this task would be almost impossible.
"I believe that many citations are issued as a result of a misunderstanding of the application of a standard or that OSHA compliance officers interpret the standard too literally," says Swindal. "The Training Exchange Program could help contractors avoid unnecessary citations and relieve them of the costs of hiring an attorney to fight the citation."
Marshall says that the citations were only one part of her reasoning behind creating the Training Exchange Program idea.
"When I first met with the committee staff, those [scaffolding and grouting] citations weren't actually in the back of my mind," Marshall says. "What was in the back of my mind was coming up with some reasonable ways for industries to work more cooperatively and less confrontationally with OSHA."
Swindal agrees, "The Training Exchange Program could prove to be an invaluable tool to all masonry construction contractors and other specialty trades because we would have an opportunity to interact more directly with OSHA compliance officers and ensure that they have a better understanding of our businesses in a voluntary and non-confrontational fashion."
The Program has been well received by OSHA representatives and the committee members. If all goes well, Marshall hopes that MCAA and OSHA will be able to implement the Training Exchange Program in the next few months, starting with a two-year pilot of the program to demonstrate its effectiveness.
"I hope that we will be able to work with them and perhaps, if possible, implement the program without legislation - I'm all for that," says Marshall.
July 2005
Masonry 15