Masonry Magazine July 2005 Page. 18
SENATE TESTIMONY
The following witness statement was made by Roy Swindal, MCAA member and Owner of Masonry Arts, Inc., before the Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Tuesday, May 10, 2005:
Chairman Isakson, members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on small-employer concerns with rules and regulations promulgated and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
I own a mason contracting business in Bessemer, Ala. I do a variety of masonry work throughout the country.
As I'm sure most of you are aware, OSHA has a variety of programs in place to exchange ideas with trade associations about "best practices," which their member companies have in place to protect employees on the job and improve upon the effectiveness of standards impacting their industries.
The Mason Contractors Association of America has an Alliance with OSHA, which focuses on scaffolding, fall protection, wall bracing and forklift safety issues. Our Director of Engineering, with the help of several others in industry, has written a handbook on wall bracing, which OSHA actually refers to for guidance on wall bracing issues. These alliances are, in our view, invaluable because they allow us to share ideas with OSHA on how we can better protect the health and safety of our workers. I commend OSHA for the resources they dedicate to this important effort.
The Mason Contractors Association would like to expand on this concept through our existing Alliance - in essence take it one step further and allow qualified safety personnel from our industry to train OSHA compliance officers and agency personnel responsible for writing, interpreting and enforcing health and safety standards, primarily those impacting construction and masonry.
We have had some initial conversations with OSHA about this, and they seem very willing to work with us to establish what we like to call a "Training Exchange Program." We have also asked the agency to add a masonry-specific course to its curriculum at the OSHA Training Institute and, again, have someone with broad experience from our industry assist in. These alliances are, in our view, invaluable because they allow us to share ideas with OSHA on how we can better protect the health and safety of our workers.
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE SAFETY
Subcommittee Chairman
Senator Johnny Isakson (GA)
Republicans
* Senator Lamar Alexander (TN)
* Senator Richard Burr (NC)
* Senator John Ensign (NV)
* Senator Jeff Sessions (AL)
* Senator Pat Roberts (KS)
* Senator Michael Enzi - Ex Officio (WY)
Democrats
* Senator Patty Murray (WA), Ranking Member
* Senator Christopher Dodd (CT)
* Senator Tom Harkin (IA)
* Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD)
* Senator James Jeffords (VT)
* Senator Ted Kennedy - Ex Officio (MA)