OSHA And Continental Building Systems Partner To Protect Employees

Huntington, VA (CompNewsNetwork) - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has joined Continental Building Systems, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, to announce a partnership designed to foster a safe workplace for employees, and to help contractors develop exemplary safety and health management systems during construction of the Christ Temple Church Life and Health Center in Huntington. The recent signing ceremony was held at the construction site in Huntington.

"This agreement is an example of an employer in the construction industry and OSHA working together to benefit employees," said Jeff Funke, director of OSHA's area office in Charleston, W.Va. "Our common goal is to ensure that every employee goes home safe and healthy at the end of each workday."

The Christ Temple project includes the construction of a new life and health center that will house a gymnasium and a stage. It will be attached to a two-story building that will include a welcome center, full-service kitchen, café, meeting rooms, work-out facility, and aerobic and sound rooms. The $4 million project will employ approximately five subcontractors and 50 tradespersons at peak construction.

Major goal of the partnership are to keep the DART (cases with days away from work, restricted or transferred) rate below the national average for the commercial construction industry and to further reduce this level of recordable injuries by at least five percent annually for the duration of the partnership.

For more information about OSHA's partnership program, contact OSHA's Charleston Area Office at 304-347-5937.

OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program is part of U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao's ongoing efforts to improve the safety and health of employees through cooperative relationships with groups including trade associations, labor organizations, employers and employees. More than 1.4 million employees and more than 26,000 employers across the U.S. have participated with OSHA in more than 530 strategic partnerships since the program began in 1998.

OSHA has improved workplace safety and health over the past 38 years. This success is reflected in the latest data (2007) showing the lowest national injury and illness incidence rate that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has ever recorded. OSHA will continue to work diligently to focus its resources where they will have the most impact in assuring that every working man and woman returns home safely every day.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to promote the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual improvement in workplace safety and health. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

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