Renewed OSHA alliance to focus on hazards ‘unique to female construction workers’

Washington — OSHA has renewed its alliance with the National Association of Women in Construction “to continue promoting safe and healthful working conditions for female construction workers.”

As part of the OSHA Alliance Program, the five-year pact will target hazards specific to women in construction, including selection of personal protective equipment, sanitation, and workplace intimidation and violence, a Dec. 15 OSHA press release states. The alliance began in 2013.

“Women represent a small, but growing, segment of the construction workforce,” Loren Sweatt, OSHA’s acting assistant secretary of labor, said in the release. “OSHA’s renewed alliance with NAWIC will continue to promote innovative solutions to safety and health hazards unique to female construction workers.”

According OSHA’s website, the alliance intends to collaborate on raising awareness of OSHA's rulemaking and enforcement tactics by:

• Sharing information on OSHA’s National Emphasis Programs, Regulatory Agenda, and opportunities to participate in the rulemaking process
• Sharing information on occupational safety and health laws, standards and guidance resources, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers
• Convening or participating in forums, roundtable discussions or stakeholder meetings on construction to create innovative workplace solutions or to give input on safety and health issues

To spread their message of recognition and prevention of workplace hazards specific to women, the organizations will use print and electronic media, as well as OSHA and NAWIC websites; and speak, exhibit or appear at OSHA and NAWIC events. The agreement also calls for encouraging NAWIC chapters to foster relationships with federal OSHA regional and area offices, as well as State Plans and OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program, to address construction health and safety issues.

NAWIC was formed in 1955 and provides educational and professional development opportunities to more than 4,000 women, the organization's website states.