Work Smart with the SCA McGraw-Hill Supplement - 40

A SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO NEW YORK CONSTRUCTION SAFETY FIRST t the SCA, safety is Job One. “We’re out in the " eld when the work is going on—rain or shine, days, nights and weekends,” says Vinicius Castagnola, Vice President for Environmental & Regulatory Compliance. “Our safety of" cers ensure the safest possible work conditions.” Safety planning commences with a preconstruction meeting attended by the SCA construction team, school principal, United Federation of Teachers (union) representative, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers and doesn’t " nish until the project is complete. Every aspect of worker, student and faculty safety is taken into consideration. Each project entails safety requirements on two levels: ensuring a safe work environment for, and safe behavior by, workers and ensuring that the school community can occupy and use the building safely. School renovations present unique challenges because the school is occupied. “There is no opportunity for mistakes, because we are dealing with a student population whose safety is our main concern,” says Madhu Luther, Deputy Director for Safety. Work areas are isolated from where school is in session. Security guards are stationed. “All safety measures and precautions are in place on Day One,” says Luther. The SCA also takes steps to ensure the health and safety of contractors and subcontractors. Safety Of" cers conduct inspections at all hours to monitor workload, code requirements, procedures and workers’ certi" cations, and to verify that workers have received required OSHA and scaffolding training. If a job site does not pass inspection, it can be shut down until all safety requirements are met. To prevent unsafe situations, the SCA provides extensive training for contractors and empowers them to enforce their safety training on the job. In the past year, the SCA provided OSHA, Department of Buildings code requirements, or internal safety manual requirements training to over 1,300 people. Training is free for MWLBE contractors, to help them develop their health and safety programs as they learn how to grow their businesses. “The more information we provide, the more we can make safety a vital part of their instinctual knowledge base,” says Castagnola. “This results in a better working environment for everybody.” According to Luther, “The SCA makes safety awareness a priority for the agency, contractors and various divisions that impact the " ow of a project; to do so we create a team atmosphere to help each project go smoothly.” To this end, the Safety Division tries to be as visible and proactive as possible and is available to consult with, and provide technical assistance to, contractors and Construction Managers as necessary. The SCA is committed to collaborating with the entire project team to keep safety " rst. ■ TOP SAFETY TIPS • To avoid safety problems before they can develop, schedule a pre-construction safety walk-through with the Project Of" cer, Safety Of" cer, GC and Site Safety Manager. • All workers and Supervisors/Foremen must have proper OSHA and scaffold training. Training cards must be carried at all times and produced on request. • Safety documentation must be onsite and available to Safety Of" cers and/or other Inspectors. • Basic Personal Protective Equipment is required: work boots, hard hats, long pants and shirts with sleeves. • Visible, proper identi" cation badges are required on SCA job sites. • Notify the Designated Safety Of" cer 48 hours before any “hot work.” • Notify the SCA Safety Unit 48 hours prior to crane arrival on any SCA job site. • Prior to erecting exterior scaffolding, the GC must implement ground level perimeter public protection. • Supported Scaffold drawings must be site-speci" c. Daily Inspection Logs must be maintained and available for inspection. • The GC must obtain an after-hours work permit and post on-site. • For more information, see the SCA Safety Manual or contact the Safety Unit at 718-472-8113 (or mslevin@nycsca.org). 39

Work Smart with the SCA McGraw-Hill Supplement

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Work Smart with the SCA McGraw-Hill Supplement