NFC Weighs in on COIVD-19 Workplace Standard
Originally published by the following source: SBC Magazine — March 9, 2021
by Sean Shields
The SBCA’s National Framers Council (NFC) is a member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), which is made up of 30 trade associations from all sectors of the construction industry, including commercial building, heavy industrial production, home building, road repair, specialty trade contractors, material suppliers, and construction equipment manufacturers. This group focuses heavily on workplace safety and health, with each member committed to helping create safer construction jobsites for workers.
On Tuesday, March 2, CISC sent a letter to Jim Frederick, U.S. Dept. of Labor’s principal deputy assistant secretary and OSHA’s acting administrator, that contained the groups considerable experience and perspective on mitigating the risk of COVID-19 exposure in the construction environment. The letter is a follow up to an earlier letter sent to OSHA on January 27, 2021 and was prompted by President Biden’s recent Executive Order 13999 on Protecting Worker Health and Safety.
Executive Order 13999 directs OSHA to consider an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 in the workplace. After a series of ETS listening sessions CISC members participated in, the group outlines in the letter numerous concerns the group has regarding the creation and content of a COVID-19 standard. You can read the full letter here.