The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Demolition Association (NDA) renewed their alliance to improve the safety and health of workers in the demolition industry.
During the five-year agreement, the alliance will address industry hazards by developing safety and health training resources and seminars that focus on deconstruction and selective dismantlement of building components for reuse, repurposing, recycling and waste management. The alliance will also work with labor organizations, contractors and staffing associations to share information in multiple languages and formats on a variety of topics including fall and heat illness prevention, recognizing hazardous materials, construction safety and protecting temporary workers.
Since the agreement was signed in July 2021, the alliance has developed several products including a document on managing predictable hazards when preparing for and implementing power plant demolition, guidelines for signage and door hanger use when notifying residential communities that will be impacted by demolition work and a podcast featuring Jim Frederick, OSHA deputy assistant secretary for occupational safety and health.
Demolition work involves many of the hazards associated with construction, but includes additional hazards from unknown factors, according to OSHA, such as changes or modifications that alter the original design, materials hidden within structural components and unknown strengths or weaknesses of construction materials, as well as hazards created by the demolition methods used.