Facing adversityAshley St. John
In early December 2009, David Michaels was named the new
assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health for
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In one of
his first speeches on Jan. 20, 2010, to OSHA's Maritime Advisory
Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, Michaels said: "This
administration is returning the agency to the original intent of
the OSH [Occupational Safety and Health] Act. This is a regulatory
and enforcement agency, and we're going to act like it."
Based on what the roofing industry has witnessed since Michaels
and his administration took over, it has become clear a regulatory
and enforcement agency acts like a shark that has caught the scent
of blood.
In recent months, OSHA has issued a number of new regulations
drastically affecting the roofing industry, including a
fall-protection instruction rescinding the use of slide guards and
a new crane standard. Additionally, Michaels has placed emphasis on
increasing job-site inspections and penalties, and OSHA budget
increases have focused on hiring more inspectors.
NRCA has received an abundance
of complaints from roofing contractors who have had bad experiences
with OSHA, particularly during the past year; many mentioned
frantically trying to comply with a plethora of new regulations,
negative interactions with inspectors or even borderline harassment
by the agency in...
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