Mortenson

Mitch Transtrum

The purpose of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is to assure safe and healthful working conditions by setting and enforcing standards and providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. Much more than an enforcement agency, OSHA’s training, outreach, education, and assistance services are first-rate and often underutilized in the construction industry.

OSHA’s onsite consultation program offers free and confidential safety and occupational health advice to small and medium-sized businesses in all states across the U.S., with priority given to high-hazard worksites. The Consultation Program is separate from the OSHA inspection effort, and employers can find out about potential hazards at their workplace, improve programs already in place, and even qualify for a one-year exemption from routine OSHA inspections. No citations or penalties are issued; the employer’s only obligation is to correct serious job safety and health hazards. Mortenson is a large commercial general contractor with operations across the U.S. and has utilized OSHA Consultation Programs for the past 30+ years. As the Senior Operating Group Safety Director for Mortenson’s Phoenix business, I have found the OSHA Consultation program to be a tremendous resource to help us execute safe operations on each of our job sites in Arizona.

They provide a fresh set of eyes that can help us gain a new perspective on unsafe conditions and at-risk behaviors that we may not recognize since we are in the middle of it every day. Mortenson runs a robust safety program built on the foundation of high-level planning and daily task-level planning to ensure folks are set up for success and have the tools, resources, and information they need to complete the work safely. On each of our job sites, we focus on fostering a culture of care and interdependence, which allows everyone on site to have a voice and raise concerns to site leadership so each concern can be addressed promptly and appropriately.

We also partner with OSHA Consultation to stay current on national emphasis programs, update standards and letters of interpretation, and build relationships with our local regulators. A direct relationship with the Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) is invaluable. We call on them frequently for advice and technical expertise, and when we need to utilize other free resources, they offer to all employers, such as Industrial Hygiene (IH) sampling services.

"As the Senior Operating Group Safety Director for Mortenson’s Phoenix business, I have found the OSHA Consultation program to be a tremendous resource to help us execute safe operations on each of our job sites in Arizona"

Most importantly, we partner with OSHA Consultation because their periodic consultation visits strongly support our onsite safety culture. As a general contractor, we subcontract the majority of our scoped work to trade partners, such as mass grading scopes, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) scopes, steel erection scopes, finish scopes, etc., which means that the majority of the workforce personnel are not direct Mortenson team members. It can sometimes be difficult to create and foster a feeling of “One Team” with many different companies represented on a single job site. The OSHA Consultation program helps align common goals for safe production. It sets us on a path of collaboration and camaraderie, allowing a feeling of “One Team” as we utilize the OSHA Consultations services on the entire job site.

I encourage any company committed to continually improving its safety culture and overall safety on job sites to research the many different resources offered to our industry and take advantage of the OSHA Consultation services. OSHA makes a myriad of consultation resources available and is completely free to employers. See the links below for additional information.

• OSHA’s Onsite Consultation Program Brochure

• Consultation Program Fact Sheet (PDF)

• Economic Benefits of Consultation

• Summary

• Full-Length Paper

• eTools, eMatrix, Expert Advisors and v-Tools

• Help for Employers

• Job Safety and Health - It’s the Law! poster

• Small Business

• Small Business-Related Publications

• Worker Rights