NY Times Project Added To National OSHA Partnership With AMEC Americas
New York - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and AMEC Americas will include the New York Times construction project in Manhattan under a renewed safety partnership.
A national partnership between the federal agency and AMEC was established in 2003 and renewed in April. It encourages construction employers to improve safety and health and eliminate the most common workplace hazards in the industry. The New York Times site was incorporated into the partnership Nov. 8 in a signing ceremony at OSHA's Manhattan area office.
OSHA partnerships are part of U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao's ongoing efforts to improve the health and safety of workers through cooperative efforts with employers, trade associations and labor. During fiscal year 2005, OSHA created more than 50 partnerships to foster workplace safety and health.
"We look forward to continuing our work with AMEC to spread the message of workplace safety and to have a positive impact among sub-contractors," said Patricia K. Clark, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "The local partnership underscores the importance of employees' daily involvement in worksite safety and health."
The New York Times project is a 52-floor, 1.6 million square-foot skyscraper under construction at 620 8th Ave. between 40th and 41st Sts. At peak, the project will involve over 800 employees and more than 55 sub-contractors. AMEC provides design, project delivery and maintenance support to clients in the oil and gas, transportation, industrial and infrastructure sectors.
Key goals of OSHA partnerships are to:
reduce injuries at participating worksites to 30 percent below the national construction industry rate;
expand awareness of the value of effective safety and health management systems;
support and encourage subcontractors toward greater participation in OSHA's cooperative programs, and
convey safety and health best practices and injury/illness reduction lessons learned at participating worksites.
Signatories to the local partnership addendum included Clark and Richard Mendelson, OSHA's Manhattan area director; Randy Plener, vice president S&H & Environmental AMEC Americas; David Leonard, president AMEC Construction Management; Andres Sosa, vice president AMEC Construction Management; Robert Link, site safety manager AMEC Construction Management; Edward J. Malloy, president, the Building and Construction Trades Council; and Louis Coletti, chairman & CEO, the Building Trades Employer Association.
Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to assure the safety and health of America's workers 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.
SOURCE: OSHA