Electrical Association

Minnesota Electrical Contractors Find a Better Way to Work with OSHA

Electrical contractors dread the possibility of a federal-safety inspector visit-especially since OSHA's workplace fines have stiffened and its rules have tightened.

But there's a better way. Since 1975, five years after the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) took effect, some contractors invite and actually welcome OSHA inspectors. Through a program called the OSHA Consultation's Service, inspectors visit a contractor's jobsites once a year for a free "dry run" of potential OSHA violations. Using the service, contractors can find out about potential hazards of their worksites and even qualify for a one-year exemption from routine OSHA inspections.

One state's electrical contractors have banded together to lead a charge against OSHA fines. In late 1994, the Minnesota Electrical Association (MEA), representing about 1500 small electrical contractors and their associates, contacted the Minnesota OSHA Consultation office at Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry requesting assistance for complying with the "A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Act" of 1990.

Association members felt intimidated by stiff fines and the process of logging company policies, objectives, hazard evaluation, control methods, communications, accident investigation, and enforcement of workplace safety policies. The AWAIR Act, a performance-oriented approach, did not specifically address how employers should meet the requirements.

Subsequently, the Minnesota OSHA Consultation conducted 14 statewide seminars for 300 small, high-hazard electrical contracting firms and their 500 employees. Each one-day seminar was designed to teach electrical contractors how to write an AWAIR program for their business, emphasizing the key elements of an effective AWAIR program consistent with published guidelines and policies on Minnesota OSHA. Seminar participants took a step-by-step approach to preparing their individual program, with OSHA consultants on hand to address questions or concerns.

Of the participants, 98% said that seminar helped them develop a site-specific, effective workplace accident and injury reduction program in written form, according to the MEA.

In the few months since these seminars began, Minnesota OSHA inspected several contractors, congratulating them on a "job well done" for their safety and health concerns. In addition, many realized a 7% reduction in their workers' compensation insurance premiums.

Reprinted from CEE News. May 1995.