As every safety professional knows, controlling workplace hazards requires regular and effective training for workers and supervisors. In the case of Ironworker-Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust (IMPACT), training on dangers unique to this high-hazard industry extends to Cal/OSHA itself.
Starting in November, IMPACT, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and the Western Steel Council will launch the latest in their training partnerships for Cal/OSHA compliance officers, local union business agents, signatory contractors and contractor associations.
Earlier this year, the California Field Ironworkers Administrative Trust funded the "California Guide to Welding Fume Hazards," a comprehensive handbook to provide contractors and ironworkers with welding fume information. DOSH will also make use of the data, adding it to its exposure database.
"We are pleased that under the leadership of Len Welsh, Cal/OSHA has once again entered into a training partnership with the Ironworkers District Council and IMPACT to raise the standard for safety performance and compliance in the steel erection industry," IMPACT western region director Steve Rank says of the steel erection partnership.
The partnership provides training on Construction Safety Orders §1710 and is intended to provide consistent interpretation, enforcement and compliance, IMPACT says. It includes eight modules on common hazards, safe practices and regulatory requirements with written examinations, DVDs, PowerPoint instruction and manuals.
The training covers site layout and erection plans, multiple-lift rigging procedures, structural steel assembly, column anchorage, beams, columns and fabrication requirements, construction sequencing, open web steel joists, systems engineered metal buildings, and falling-object and fall protection.
Training will take place Nov. 9–10 in Benicia, Dec. 14–15 in La Palma and Jan. 11–12 in San Diego. Training sessions also are being planned for January and February 2011 in Sacramento and Fresno, respectively.
Dave McEuen, president of California Erectors, Inc., says the steel erection training accomplishes several things. "It gets our guys aware of Cal/OSHA, gives them a chance to understand what they do for a living and it gives [DOSH] a chance to understand what we do for a living," he says. "It makes them better when they go out and do inspections. They're generalists. They do thousands of different codes. Ours is pretty specific, so by running them through our training, it allows them to get a better understanding of what the codes are for our particular type of work. They learn some of the slang and terminology."
He adds that the welding fume guide "is a pretty thorough representation of what we're doing in the field and in the shop. When [inspectors] go out to the job site, they'll have a pretty good idea of what to look for, whether there's the possibility of exposure."
Like Rank, McEuen praised Welsh for working with the steel-erection industry. "Len is a breath of fresh air," he says. "I'd hate to face him in a courtroom, but he understands what's going on. He has the same goal as we do—to make everybody safe."