CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1967

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE OF LABOR,

COMMITTEE OF EDUCATION AND LABOR,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:10 a.m., in room 2257, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. James G. O'Hara presiding. Present: Representatives O'Hara, Steiger, and Hathaway.

Staff: Jim Harrison, staff director; Marilyn Myers, clerk; Nancy Tyler, assistant clerk; Michael Bernstein, minority counsel for education and labor; and Dr. James R. Watson, consultant to subcommittee, Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress.

Mr. O'HARA. The Select Subcommittee on Labor of the House Committee on Education and Labor will come to order.

The purpose of our meeting today is to institute hearings on H.R. 2567, the construction safety bill.

Without objection, H.R. 2567 will appear in the record at this point. (H.R. 2567 follows:)

[H.R. 2567, 90th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To promote health and safety in the building trades and construction industry in all Federal and federally financed or federally assisted construction projects

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Construction Safety Act."

This Act covers direct Federal construction, alteration or repair of public buildings, public works, including painting, and decorating, and applies to all agencies, corporations, territories, and other instrumentalities of the Federal Government, and the District of Columbia that directly make construction contracts. It also applies to all federally financed or assisted construction projects in excess of $20,000 wheresoever any construction, painting or decorating repairs or alterations are contracted for.

SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act:

(a) No contract involving Federal funds for construction, alteration or repair may be performed, nor may any equipment, material, supplies or articles be used or furnished under working conditions which are unsanitary or hazardous or dangerous to the health or safety of employees engaged in the performance of the contract, or the surrounding communities where such work is undertaken.

(b) This rule shall apply to all prime and subcontractors under said contract. (c) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor, or his duly authorized representative.

SEC. 3. The Secretary of Labor is authorized at any time to cause to be made such inspections and investigations as he shall deem necessary in Federal construction operations subject to the jurisdiction of this Act, (1) for the purpose of obtaining, utilizing, and disseminating information relating to health and safety conditions in such construction operations, to the causes of accidents, involving bodily injury or loss of life, property damage, or to the causes of occupational diseases originating therein, or (2) for the purpose of determining whether or not there is compliance with a health and safety standard or order issued under this Act.

SEC. 4. For the purposes of making any inspection or investigation authorized by this Act, authorized representatives of the Secretary shall be entitled to admission to, and shall have the right of entry to, upon, or through any such construction operations.

SEC. 5. (a) The Secretary is authorized to develop, promulgate and to enforce health and safety standards for the purpose of the protection of life and property. the protection of health and safety, and the prevention of accidents in such construction operations.

(b) The provisions of section 4 of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. sec. 1003) shall be applicable with respect to the promulgation of health and safety standards, and to the designation of any standards as mandatory standard. (c) The Secretary shall designate as mandatory standards, those standards promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section which deals with major hazards, and the construction contractors and subcontractors to which such standards are applicable shall comply with such mandatory standards pursuant to the provisions of section 7 and section 8 of this Act.

SEC. 6. (a) The Secretary is authorized to establish an advisory committee composed of equal numbers of representatives of management, from the construction industry, labor, and from the public to assist him in the development of health and safety standards for construction activities, and to advise him on other matters relating to health and safety in such construction projects.

(b) Each member appointed to such a committee from private life may be paid travel expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence at the rates authorized by section 5 of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946 (5 U.S.C. 73b-2). SEC. 7. (a) If, upon an inspection or investigation of a covered construction project, an authorized representative of the Secretary finds that conditions are such that immediate danger to workers exists, such representative shall determine the extent of the danger or violation, and thereupon issue orders requiring the contractor or subcontractor to correct such dangers or violations immediately.

(b) If, upon any such inspection or investigation, an authorized representative finds that there has been a failure to comply with a mandatory standard which is applicable to such construction operation, but that such failure to comply has not created an immediate serious danger that an accident will occur before the imminence of such danger can be eliminated, he shall determine what would be a reasonable period of time within which such violation should be totally abated and thereupon issue a notice fixing a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation. If upon the expiration of such period of time as originally fixed or extended, the authorized representative finds that such violation has not been totally abated, and if he also finds that such period of time should not be further extended, he shall also find the extent of the area which is affected by such violation. Thereupon, he shall promptly issue such other orders as are appropriate.

(c) Findings and orders issued pursuant to this section shall contain a detailed description of the conditions which cause and constitute a situation of imminent danger or a violation of a mandatory standard.

SEC. 8. (a) Each finding made and notice or order issued under section 7 of this Act shall be given promptly to the contractor or subcontractor to which it pertains by the person making such finding or order, and all such findings. orders, and notices shall be in writing, and shall be signed by the person making them. A notice or order issued pursuant to section 7 of this Act may be annulled, canceled, or revised by an authorized representative of the Secretary.

(b) A contractor or subcontractor notified of an order may appeal to the Secretary for annulment or revision of such order, and the Secretary shall issue regulations providing for such appeals.

SEC. 9. The Secretary is authorized to require contractors and/or subcontraetors subject to this Act to submit, at such time and in such from as he may prescribe, reports of accidents, injuries, and occupational diseases, and related data, and the Secretary is authorized to compile, analyze, and publish, either in summary or detailed form, the information obtained; and all information. reports, orders, or findings, obtained or issued under this Act may be published and released to the public, or any interested person, and may be made available for public inspection.

SEC. 10. Whoever knowingly (1) violates or fails or refuses to comply with any provision of this Act, or with any order of withdrawal and debarment issued under section 7 or section 8 of this Act, or (2) interferes with, hinders, or delays

the Secretary, or his duly authorized representative, in carrying out his duties under this Act, or (3) refuses to admit an authorized representative of the Secretary to any construction operations covered by this Act, or (4) refuses to permit the inspection or investigation of any construction operations covered by this Act, or of an accident, injury, or occupational disease occurring in or connected with such construction operations, or (5) being subject to the provisions of section 9 of this Act, refuses to furnish any information or report requested by the Secretary, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $3,000, or by imprisonment of not more than ninety days. In any case involving personal injury, no forfeiture of collateral shall be permitted. Prosecutions for violations of this title shall be in the name of the United States Department of Labor on information filed in the United States district court. In any instance in which such offense is committed by a corporation, the officer or authorized representative of such corporation who knowingly permits such offense to be committed shall, upon conviction, be subject to the same fine or imprisonment, or both. Each day shall be a separate offense.

SEC. 11. The Secretary shall develop expanded programs for the education and training of employers and employees in the recognition, avoidance, and prevention of accidents or unsafe or unhealthful working conditions in construction operations covered by this Act.

SEC. 12. In order to promote sound and effective coordination of Federal and State activities within the purposes of this Act, to eliminate duplication of effort and expense, and to secure effective enforcement of the health and safety standards established under this Act, the Secretary shall seek the cooperation of, and may utilize the service of, any agency of the United States or any State agency engaged in similar work, through formal agreement or otherwise,

SEC. 13. Except as provided in subsection (c) of section 5 of this Act the Administrative Procedure Act shall not apply to the making of any finding, order, or notice pursuant to this Act, or to any proceeding for the annulment or revision of any such finding, order, or notice.

SEC. 14. There are authorized to be appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Mr. O'HARA. Our first witness will be a very distinguished American leader, president of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, Mr. C. J. Haggerty.

STATEMENT OF C. J. HAGGERTY, PRESIDENT, BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO; ACCOMPANIED BY WALTER MASON, REPRESENTING THE BUILDING TRADES DEPARTMENT, LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES; ALAN BURCH, SAFETY DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS; PAUL CONNELLEY, SAFETY DIRECTOR, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS, AND VICTOR WHITEHOUSE, SAFETY DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS

Mr. HAGGERTY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.

I would like to present to the committee, before I begin my formal statement, some of the gentlemen sitting at the table here with me who are active in the field of safety for their own particular organization, both local and nationwide.

On my left, of course, is Mr. Walter Mason, representing the Building Trades Department, Legislative Activities.

Then Mr. Alan Burch, safety director of the Operating Engineers.

Mr. Robert Farrell, safety director of the Engineers Local No. 150 in Chicago.

Paul Connelley, safety director, United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Victor Whitehouse, safety director of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

George J. Knaly, director of Government Operations, IBEW. Bryce W. Holcombe of the Brotherhood of Painters, and Jack Wilkinson of the International Laborers Union.

I am surrounded by a galaxy of safety experts, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.

Mr. Chairman, my name is C. J. Haggerty. I am president of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. The department is a federation of 18 national and international unions composed of 8,400 local unions throughout the United States. The opportunity to appear before this committee in support of H.R. 2567, the construction safety bill, is greatly appreciated. We in the building trades have an intense interest in the health and safety of our membership. To provide adequate protection against fatal accidents and disabling injuries has always been a major goal of our department. The committee is to be highly commended for calling these hearings to reveal the facts which clearly demonstrate the immediate need to establish Federal safety standards and provide for enforcement of those standards on all Government and federally assisted construction projects.

The construction industry, as no other industry, reaches into every center of activity in this country. Its approximately 4 million workers are spread out in every State, city, county, and small town in this Nation. For all of its progressive greatness and its growing economic strength throughout the years, the construction industry has neglected its first obligation the protection of the health and safety of its

workers.

Construction, and the people who derive their income from it, represent the largest single industry in this country. This year the Nation's total construction expenditure will exceed $75 billion. The Federal Government, in fiscal year 1968, plans to spend approximately $15 billion in Federal and federally aided construction projects. In addition to the approximately 4 million people directly employed, 20 million of this Nation's total work force are dependent on the construction industry for their livelihood.

These are impressive figures. They reflect the progressive greatness of this industry. The facts are that the approximately 4 million workers involved in the construction industry suffer a higher accident frequency rate than any industry in the country, except mining.

According to the National Safety Council, the average injury frequency rate for all industries is 6.91 for every 1 million man-hours worked. The latest injury survey conducted by the Department of Labor shows that the construction industry has an injury frequency rate of 28.6 per 1 million man-hours of work. Exhibit A contains a table of various injury frequency rates broken down into separate trades and categories in the construction industry. You will note in studying the table in exhibit A that the injury frequency rate in the construction industry ranges from 20.7 to 43.9.

The National Safety Council, whose construction rates, it should be noted, do not represent the total construction industry, has also reported that deaths and disabling injuries both increased in 1966. They reported 240,000 disabling injuries, a 21⁄2-percent increase over 1965; and 2,800 deaths, which represented a 4-percent increase over the previous year. Statistics also indicate that there has been no improvement in the rates of injury in the construction industry for the past 8 years. A table of the specific death and injury figures for each year from 1959 through 1966 is contained in exhibit B.

This is ridiculous when you consider the fact that this industry, with the millions of workers dependent upon it for a living, is among the most hazardous and yet there is no Federal authority to set safety standards, not to mention power to enforce them. This is an extremely serious oversight in the Federal statutes now on the books and, in our opinion, H.R. 2567 would provide a sound and workable approach to this problem.

To evaluate the relative degree of hazard, extent of accident prevention accomplishment and enforcement, and the need for more effective measures, the manual rates for workmen's compensation and employers' liability insurance, as issued by such organizations as the National Council on Compensation Insurance are the most accurate and indicative. These rates are the basis on which compensation insurance is assessed for the various employment categories. While these rates vary from State to State, an example of rates for various classifications set for the District of Columbia would be typical. Exhibit C shows a comparison of certain construction trades with other manufacturing or processing activities in rates per $100 of payroll.

In 1960, Gov. John A. Volpe of Massachusetts, president of J. A. Volpe Construction Co. and a vocal advocate of safety was quoted in the Constructor magazine as follows: "On invitation bids and cost plus bids, insurance costs are a major factor when contracts are being considered." The insurance factor has become even greater when consideration is given to the fact that premiums must reflect a subsequent 40-percent increase in medical costs since 1960.

Another very important factor is that because of the size and high cost of the equipment used in the construction industry, accidents can be very costly even when injuries are very slight. As a case in point, I would direct the committee's attention to exhibit D.

To continue in this vein, I would like to establish some dollar costs to the industry and to the country caused by the high accident toll in the construction industry. The costs of these accidents are astronomical.

The Associated General Contractors of America computed the costs of accidents for 1951 as follows:

Direct compensation insurance costs---

Damaged equipment, work stoppage, spoiled work, reclamation, etc., due to accidents_

Total.

$409, 500, 000

819, 000, 000

1,228, 500, 000

Again in 1963 the Associated General Contractors computed the cost of accidents in the construction industry. Their final figure was $2 billion despite the fact that 1963 was one of the industry's better