"PERMIT" SAFETY ON THE JOB SITE: "... We have an understaffed Federal agency with the power but not the resources, and... very vigilant and (some say) aggressive [local jurisdictions] with the resources but not the power to protect workers.".

• Author: Tarrant, Patrick
• Position: CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

CONSTRUCTION always has been a hazardous occupation, and it appears that we have not made much progress in solving the problem. Due to mechanization and new methodologies, this work tends to be less labor intensive than in the past. It logically should follow that with fewer man-hours being worked for the same result, the number of accidents should be less, but that is not the case.

New York's Empire State Building was built in a year and 45 days. There are some very dramatic photos of ironworkers putting the steel structure together, but there were no ironworker fatalities on the project during construction. Likewise, New York's Chrysler Building had no fatalities during construction, equaling the record of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

How do we tap into the "safety" formula that these megaprojects seemed to have that allowed them to escape the deadly statistics that stalk construction work? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been grappling with this problem for decades, so why hasn't it been solved? We have mandatory training for all construction workers and the employers are fully aware of the huge cost of accidents in both time and money.

Some jurisdictions are more vigilant than others in policing construction work, taking a proactive approach, which is very helpful. OSHA, however, does not have the resources to monitor projects fully for compliance, while local jurisdictions do not have the power to enforce rules and impose penalties related to worker safety violations. In New York, for instance, the Department of Buildings takes a very proactive approach to policing construction projects, but their rules apply only to the protection of the public and property.

So, we have an understaffed Federal agency with the power but not the resources, and a very vigilant and (some say) aggressive city agency with the resources but not the power to protect workers. We are in a situation here that relies on the contractors stepping up and "doing the right thing" by their workers, but very often the pressure exerted by the client (and passed down) is to get the job done faster or face liquidated damages that will wipe out any profit on the job and possibly cause the contractor to lose money. The fact of the matter is that the golden rule applies here: he who has the gold rules.

Moreover, when I worked in Europe, there was a lot less subcontracting of work. Contractors there hire the workers directly and self-perform the work. In...