SIA/OSHA alliance

Jeff Stachowiak, national safety director at Sunbelt Rentals and SIA member, reports on the association's Mid-Winter Committee Week on January 27.29 at Scottsdale, AZ.

The big news from the opening Sunday of the event is that Steven Whitt, the OSHA director of construction, announced to the SIA board of directors that the SIA/OSHA alliance was accepted. Members of the SIA traveled to Capitol Hill Feb 25 for a formal announcement of this news.

“What this means for the SIA is that it now has a seat at the table with OSHA and together it can venture with programs for training and educational programs that cover specific scaffold and access product lines,” says SIA President, John Miller. As an example, he says, OSHA has a great interest in regulating the mast climbing industry. This will allow the SIA to put on mast climbing seminars and training summits.

The Supported Scaffold Council meeting discussed the possibility of screening the “Scaffold User Awareness” video to Sunbelt's customers in the rental yard's showroom/counter before renting scaffold equipment.

The Mast Climbers Council reviewed its final Code of Safe Practices document and discussed training progress of the AWPT Mast Climber training program. Its English speaking training curriculum is now being translated to Spanish.

Chuck Hutchinson of Bil-Jax volunteered to coordinate with JLG, Genie, Skyjack and Bil-Jax on moving or installing lanyard anchorage points lower than they are now. Currently the position of the lanyard anchorage point is not based on any ANSI requirement. Stachowiak introduced Sunbelt's new Driver's Harness Vest.

Fall Protection Council chairperson Joseph Feldstein of MSA introduced his new co-chair Scott Rousseau of Web Devices (Sunbelt's driver's harness supplier). Feldstein did a presentation on the use of and dangers involved with twin leg lanyards, which are used on 70% of jobsites.