Occupational Safety and Health Administration Logs

What are some pros and cons of OSHA safety laws for construction sites?

I know it's a stupid question, but my homework assignment was to come up with 25 pros and 25 cons of OSHA safety laws in construction sites, and I can't think of any cons other than cost and time consumption. Any help would be much appreciated.

Public Comments

1. saves the company from workers comp claims, and time off from injuries. not to mention preventing deaths. one of the cons, is having to listen to employees complain about wearing their PPE
2. Cons: If you are not involved with the rulemaking process rules can be difficult to put in place especially for new technology (nanotechnology). Now they (OSHA) are a little better at communicating, but interpretation of the law for your situation used to be horrendous. Break the Cons about cost-Training Cost, Injury cost by having to conform to OSHA guidelines in First Aid vs Medical treatment, PPE cost for employees, Signs and notification cost are huge on a construction site start up, cost for tracking material to track employees in the event of emergency evacuation, down time for required training, security for the site (the employer has to provide a worksite free from known hazards 5(a)), cost of employees that manage OSHA elements (Legal, HSE, Quality, Admin, Training) Pros: Completing the job (Every OSHA rule is written in blood), Worker enrichment and improvement, Actually there is a parrallel to the cost and the cons: for every cost that is one pro as well-Security for example-It is a Con at first, but as employees feel comfortable in their work areas various studies show that they produce more goods. For facts you can always look at osha.gov for example in 2008 5,071 workers died as a result of a workplace fatality, prior to OSHA with a smaller workforce we were killing approx 14,000 a year, so there is a reduction percent listed on the OSHA site. Hope this helps
3. Wow - I'm shocked that a teacher is asking you to come up with "cons" for worker protection laws. This is really disappointing. Most of those laws are written in blood - and aren't there just to be a pain in the rear of construction companies. While there could be some "cons" like a little extra planning and a little more time spent on fall protection anchor setup, etc., those are more than offset by saving on worker's comp insurance from injuries, and workers lost from injury, new hire training, etc. When a worker comes up to you and says that their life was saved by wearing a harness and lanyard during a fall, or their eyes were saved by wearing safety glasses when a nail ricochets, or their hearing has been saved by wearing ear plugs when operating a saw, or they still have fingers after using a guard on a table saw, the perceived "cons" just don't matter. I couldn't come up with 25 "cons" if I tried. Your teacher has an agenda that's doesn't include the promotion of employee safety or health, I'm guessing. If I were a parent, I'd be in their office asking some pointed questions. It's like asking, "what are some cons of driving rules?" Pretty much pointless to even ask those sorts of questions. Wow...asking students to come up with 25 "cons." Simply astonishing.