09-646-BOS/BOS 2009-201
July 7, 2009
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: 617-565-2074

U.S. Labor Department's OSHA, Massachusetts and Barr & Barr Inc. partner for safety on Bridgewater State College construction project

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signed a site safety partnership with the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety's Onsite Consultation Program (MDOS) and general contractor Barr & Barr Inc. to enhance the safety and health of employees working on the Marshall Conant Science Building Modernization and Expansion Project on the campus of Bridgewater State College.

"This partnership will take a proactive and systemic approach to safety and health," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA's area director for southeastern Massachusetts. "It will emphasize ongoing and effective training and analysis of job-related hazards so that contractors and their workers will be able to identify and eliminate hazards before they hurt workers."

"We are delighted to enter into this partnership agreement with OSHA and the Massachusetts consultation program," said Donald M. Barr, president, Barr & Barr Inc. "We believe this cooperative approach will enhance our safety and health efforts at the site and be a major benefit to the men and women building the project."

The partnership will include project-specific safety and health guidelines; comprehensive and task-specific analyses of work-related hazards; mandated safety and health training; weekly meetings to discuss safety and health issues and review upcoming work activities; weekly work area inspections; and collection and analysis of injury and illness data.

OSHA will review the project's safety and health plan, provide feedback as needed, assist in the availability and delivery of effective training, and attend site safety and health meetings. MDOS will assist with onsite training, attend monthly partnership meetings, assist in planning upcoming activities and provide industrial hygiene support.

The partnership was signed at the college by OSHA's Gordon; MDOS Commissioner Laura Marlin; and the following Barr and Barr representatives: Donald Barr, president; Domenic Tiberi, senior vice president; James V. Manoli, safety director; project managers Joseph Berry and Lea Ann O'Neill; and superintendents William McNally and Keith Lavery.

More than 1.4 million employees and nearly 28,000 employers across the United States have participated with OSHA in more than 585 strategic partnerships since the program began in 1998. Information about site safety partnerships in the area southeastern Massachusetts can be obtained from the compliance assistance specialist in OSHA's Boston South Area Office in Braintree, Mass.; telephone, 617-565-6924.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA's role is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

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