On July 19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to require employers to provide employees with proper-fitting PPE to protect them from occupational hazards. This move would align the construction, general industry, and maritime standards related to PPE and further emphasize the need for PPE that properly fits the variety of body types represented in construction while providing the intended protection.
On July 13, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a proposal to update its existing standards to better protect miners against occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica, and to improve respiratory protection for all airborne hazards. MSHA’s proposal would cut the current permissible exposure limit (PEL) of respirable crystalline silica by half to 50 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3). The proposal would also include other requirements, such as exposure sampling, corrective actions to be taken when miner exposure exceeds the permissible exposure limit, and medical surveillance. Additionally, the proposal would replace existing requirements for respiratory protection.
On July 17, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced a final rule that expands the current recordkeeping requirements, and goes into effect on January 1, 2024, to mandate the submission of Form 300-Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses and Form 301-Injury and Illness Incident Report in addition to Form 300A-Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses data from construction establishments with 100 or more employees. Establishments with 20 to 99 employees continue to be required to submit only Form 300A-Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses data.
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AGC of America wants to understand exactly how labor shortages, supply chain challenges, and inflation are impacting the construction industry. Please help by taking a few minutes to complete the 2023 Autodesk and AGC of America Workforce Survey by Aug. 14. Your responses will help AGC to describe labor market conditions where you operate and to convince public officials to enact measures in that advance the construction industry.
Wage theft – a broad term referring to various ways by which employers fail to pay employees their full compensation – is a growing concern and reportedly a bigger problem in construction than in any other industry. Many state and local governments have adopted wage theft laws that give workers new ways to recover unpaid wages, impose on employers new compliance obligations and liabilities, and increase the penalties for violations. Contractors operating in multiple jurisdictions especially need to know about the changing landscape.
In its latest Settlements Report, the AGC-supported Construction Labor Research Council (CLRC) advises that construction-industry collective bargaining agreements settled from January through June of 2023 provide an average increase in wages, fringe benefits and other employer payments for union craft workers in the construction industry had an average increase of 4.4 percent.