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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151
Labor, business and the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) are launching a national cooperative program to train
workers to work safely under OSHA's new scaffolds in construction
standards.
The new Scaffold Training Partnership is sponsored by the
OSHA Training Institute in Des Plaines, Ill., in coordination with the OSHA
Directorate of Construction, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC)
National Apprenticeship and Training Fund, and the UBC Health and Safety Fund,
both union-management organizations associated with the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners of America. Commonwealth Edison, a large Chicago-based
electric utility, is joining the partnership as the first industry partner.
"The partnership offers a unique opportunity for business,
labor, and government to work together to achieve the goals of all stakeholders
affected by the new scaffold standards," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health Joseph A. Dear, who administers OSHA. "It is a
'win-win-win' situation for all concerned, especially American workers."
Staff from the OSHA Training Institute and the two
Carpenters funds worked closely together in developing a training program
designed to meet the requirements of the standards, which were issued Aug. 30,
1996. The scaffolding standards are expected to prevent about 4,500 injuries
and 50 deaths each year among the 2.3 million U.S. construction workers who
work on scaffolds frequently.
The course will use a train-the-trainer approach. Locally
based instructors -- most of whom are from the Joint Apprenticeship and
Training Committees affiliated with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters --
will participate in a week-long trainer-preparation course. The first three
courses will be conducted by master instructors from the UBC and the OSHA
Training Institute. The local instructors, in turn, will teach the course
developed through the partnership to workers who will be engaged in
construction, disassembling, moving, operating, maintenance, repair, or
inspection of scaffolds.
Commonwealth Edison, as an industry partner, helped develop
the partnership training program. The company's focus was on the application of
scaffold safety training in an operating facility.
The first instructor preparation course will be held
Dec.16-20 in Elk Grove, Ill. Instructors who qualify through the partnership
instructor preparation course will also be able to teach a one-day Scaffold
Users Course developed jointly by the Carpenters and the OSHA Training
Institute to meet separate training requirements for workers who stand on
scaffolds to perform other construction work.
The text of this news release is on the Internet World Wide
Web at http://www.osha.gov. Information on this news release will be made
available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:
202-219-8151.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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