NDA, OSHA Partner to Uphold Best Practices on Demolition Jobsites
Published: 23/11, 2020
I am proud to announce the National Demolition Association and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration have worked together to ensure best demolition practices are being followed at jobsites across the country. The effort culminated into demolition-specific training by NDA for OSHA compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) to access across the country. The collaboration between the two organizations is part of an ongoing effort to provide training, procedures and continued education within the demolition industry.
The new training is a four-part training series for OSHA on demolition best practices and techniques which focus on robotics, fall protection, health hazards, and pre-engineering. NDA Secretary James Milburn, NDA Government Affairs Committee Chairperson Dennis McGarel, NDA member Don Collier, and NDA instructor Tim Barker developed and led the recorded training series.
Open communication between the two organizations is a large step toward advancing the demolition industry. The training series will help CSHOs understand unique best practices, processes and jobsite needs for demolition professionals. With this knowledge, OSHA will be better equipped to communicate with demolition professionals to ensure OSHA standards are being followed, which will enhance safety practices.
This training, originally scheduled for April 3, 2020, was supposed to be a hybrid of classroom instruction and on-site demonstration for CSHOs located in the upper Midwest. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the training was reformatted for digital consumption, allowing access to all OSHA compliance officers.
NDA and OSHA hope enter into an alliance agreement by this fall, following the completion of the training series. The alliance agreement will allow the two organizations to partner on initiatives that we believe will propel the demolition industry forward.
“This training is part of a yearlong effort to implement an alliance that will provide members with OSHA compliance assistance,” says NDA President Chris Godek. “A continued partnership between NDA and OSHA positions NDA as the voice of the demolition industry. The partnership gives our members access to compliance assistance resources and leverages greater communication between our organizations on compliance and standards that have an impact on demolition practices.”
This new training will be available to all Federal and State OSHA personnel through OSHA’s Directorate of Training and Education. Visit our website to read more about NDA’s OSHA compliance resources.
NDA Government Affairs Committee sent a letter to the United States Congress and the Whitehouse on Phase IV Relief. As Congress continues to negotiate a “Phase 4” COVID-19 relief bill, I would like to encourage all members to visit our website take action in grassroots action portal located under Advocacy and contact your elected officials in support of the demolition industry’s legislative priorities.
Finally, the next episode of our podcast featuring President Chris Godek and Safety Committee Chair, Kyle Maddox on COVID response is available for download.
Jeff Lambert