OSHA Teams with Turner Construction and Building Trades on Worker Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signed a site safety and health construction partnership with Turner Construction Company Inc.’s Connecticut Business Unit and The Greater Hartford – New Britain Building and Construction Trades Council. The partnership seeks to eliminate serious hazards and achieve a high level of worker safety and health at the Town Square Project, 225 Trumbull St., Hartford, Conn.

OSHA Strategic Partnerships for Worker Safety and Health are part of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao’s ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of workers through cooperative relationships with groups including trade associations, labor organizations and employers.

“Partnerships allow for better use of OSHA resources and foster innovation in safety and health management,” said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s regional administrator for New England. “Joint efforts like this one also encourage more participation in the safety and health process from the construction and trade association communities.”

Turner Construction Company is the construction manager for the renovation of the Hartford Civic Center Mall featuring the construction of a 36-story, structural steel apartment tower. The Town Square/Hartford 21 Project began in March 2004 and is scheduled for completion in June 2006. At its peak, 54 subcontractors and 580 trades employees will be employed at the site.

The partnership’s goals include encouraging construction subcontractors to improve their safety and health performance; assisting them in meeting stringent safety and health objectives; implementing strategies to eliminate serious accidents, including the four primary construction hazards (falls, electrical, caught in/between and struck by); ensuring site-specific employee safety and health training; and recognizing those subcontractors with exemplary safety and health programs.