National association news

ESSENTIAL MINERALS ASSOCIATION (EMA)

In January 2023, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) resumed its impact inspections of mining facilities. Results from January and February’s inspections are available on the MSHA website (can link or have them click: https://www.msha.gov/monthlytargeted-inspection-results)

MSHA conducts impact inspections at mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to factors that include poor compliance history; previous accidents, injuries, and illnesses; and other compliance concerns.

With a clear increase in focus and attention to these type of targeted attention by MSHA, it is important for companies to be aware of the possibility that they could be subject to this type of impact inspection in the months ahead. Supervisors, miners, and the operational leadership should take this as an opportunity to refocus their attention on important safety details.

EMA’s Safety and Health Committee will discuss this in person this June, more info on that meeting will be available via Linkedin (you can link to our site: https://www.linkedin.com/ company/essentialmineralsassoc iation)

NATIONAL ASPHALT PAVEMENT ASSOCIATION (NAPA)

NAPA Unveils Annual Report, New Strategic Plan

At its Annual Meeting in January, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) unveiled its 2022 Annual Report (NAPAAnnualReport.org), summarizing activities and achievements in 2022. The report also celebrates the accomplishments of the NAPA/ State Asphalt Pavement Association (SAPA)-funded Pavement Economics Committee during its first 10 years, as well as NAPA’s 2020-2022 strategic plan successes.-funded Pavement Economics Committee during its first 10 years, as well as NAPA’s 2020-2022 strategic plan successes.

In tandem, NAPA unveiled its 2023-2025 strategic plan, focusing on three pillars: leadership, stewardship, and member engagement. As the trusted organization with expertise in the national issues impacting the asphalt pavement industry, the plan includes a number of key initiatives, including those specifically focused on safety:

• Promote work zone safety (WZS): share best practices, develop national dialog with key stakeholders, encourage use of WZS contingency funds, and increase public awareness.

• Support mental health in construction: share resources and partner with expert organizations to increase awareness throughout the asphalt pavement industry.

April kicks off the industry’s annual opportunity to engage workers and the public in #WatchForUs to promote WZS and decrease distracted driving. Raising mental health and suicide awareness among construction workers is also crucial, as suicides in the industry outnumber all construction deaths by 5x.

Look for the new strategic plan, safety resources, and mental health tools at AsphaltPavement. org

NATIONAL STONE, SAND & GRAVEL ASSOCIATION (NSSGA)

NSSGA Quarterly UpdateFocus on WOTUS

NSSGA is excited to announce the launch of the new safety program, Take Control: Prevent Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) that is dedicated to preventing these instances. SIFs are defined as injuries that are life-altering, life-threatening or result in a fatality.

The Take Control program highlights 10 activities that have a high potential to cause a SIF. For each activity, the program walks through the identification of each situation, the identification of critical controls, the monitoring of those controls and a review of SIF events for organizational learning and improvement. The program is intended to supplement existing training programs and put a spotlight on situations where miners face a higher potential of a SIF occurring.

We hope you use this program to bring awareness to SIF activities in your workplace. These materials can serve as a guide to integrate into existing training and share within your company. NSSGA created these public resources for every aggregates and construction materials company to utilize because worker safety is an inherent value for all. If you have any questions on this new program, please contact Libby Pritchard at lpritchard@nssga.org

NATIONAL READY MIXED CONCRETE ASSOCIATION (NRMCA) Federal OSHA Ups Enforcement Ante

Since fall 2022, federal OSHA has embarked on a deliberate and strategic path toward increasing enforcement of OSHA safety standards to incentivize compliance, while simultaneously intensifying the pain points for those that remain noncompliant. OSHA’s first hint at this new direction came late last year with the expansion of its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) that now covers “all hazards and OSHA standards”. This has been followed by new “instanceby-instance” guidance for highgravity violations, disallowing inspectors from grouping common violations, targeting national chain businesses, and updating sitespecific targeting to focus on 300A trends. As well, these are paired with 2023 increases in OSHA fines, which are tied to inflation. After calculating nearly 8% inflation, a repeat/willful violation can cost a business north of $156,000, per violation. To add insult to injury, OSHA has added over $100 million to its budget in the last year, allowing it to undertake these new actions. Bottom line –OSHA compliance not only keeps workers safe, it’s also a wise financial investment too.

Contact: NRMCA’s Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@ nrmca.org n