Occupational Safety and Health Administration Logs

Is Joe D. liable or Cem-Steel?

Joe D. owned and operated a general construction business. He recently was successful in obtaining a bid to build a new athletic facility. Although his company could do most of the work, he needed to hire other contractors to do parts of the job, such as cement contractors and welders to lay the foundation of the building. He selected Cem-Steel as the subcontractor to lay the foundation and the steel work. During the cement work, Jane Sprint, an employee of Cem-Steel, was hospitalized due to the large number of cement particles she had inhaled. Her employer,CemSteel, had not provided protective mouth masks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cites Joe D. for violation of its regulation about protective gear requirements.

Public Comments

1. All employers are responsible for any occupational injuries that occur to any of their contractors. This is true of any GC where he is the person in control of the site. He can appeal by arguing while he was in charge of the site the employees of Cem-Steel did not report to him because the work they performed was specialized and not a field he was familiar with, hence the reason he contracted out the job to professionals. Exposure to concrete dust is generally not a single exposure illness, but takes place over time. However, he may lose that appeal and still be found liable because exposure to silica and portland is a common exposure in concrete work. All CG or general industry companies should have a set of contractors safety rules that are provided prior to bidding on any job. These rules should stipulate that the contractor is responsible for any required OSHA training and providing and necessary PPE. But at the end of the day, it is his work site and he is responsible for the safety off all the employees there, regardless if they are his or an employee. OSHA is paying a lot of attention to construction injuries so Joe D should take the OSHA 30 hour course for Construction and get help from his insurance company for assistance in developing a program to deal with his sub-contractors.