What have I missed...? TV construction

[thinfool]

This pertains to all building crafts, electrical included.

Cable TV is awash with home improvement/residential construction programs of every ilk. One thing that baffles me is the obvious lack of PPC for the workmen.

Safety glasses are in evidence, but few hard hats, likely no foot protection, little fall protection.

Bob Vila (or clone) will walk into a structure with a HH, but virtually none of the workers has anything.

Is this classed as 'entertainment' and is thus exempt from OSHA regs? Are there other factors? Or has OSHA just not caught on yet?

If it is 'entertainment', I can foresee a huge growth in 'entertainment' sites around the country.

 

[petersonra]

I am not convinced that typical residential construction really needs hard hats. Not much in the way of stuff falling down on you or things to bump your head against.

OSHA does not require you to use PPE against non-existent hazards.

 

[muskiedog]

Small employers are exempt.

Small employers are exempt.

OSHA is also based on the size of the company.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Very few homes being built here require hard hats.Doing great if they wear shirts and long pants.Some companies we work for require hard hats even if we are in a ballpark digging with shovels (low flying birds)

 

[iwire]

OSHA is also based on the size of the company.

That is false, if you have one employee that employee is covered by OSHA.

There is a change that happens when you exceed 10 employees, but that change has to do with record keeping not the protection employees are entitled to.

 

[iwire]

I am not convinced that typical residential construction really needs hard hats. Not much in the way of stuff falling down on you or things to bump your head against.

The actual standard for hard hats in construction is vague.

1910.135(a)(1) The employer shall ensure that each affected employee wears a protective helmet when working in areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects.

The reality is if an employee suffers a serious head injury on a construction site the company may get fined for lack of PPE.

Many GCs have a hard hat policy that requires lids on all the time.

The company I work for expects a hard hat, safety glasses and gloves on anytime we are on the clock this includes the time spent installing plates on an otherwise completed building.

It's not OSHA that is the driving force its insurance rates.

 

[George Stolz]

The company I work for expects a hard hat, safety glasses and gloves on anytime we are on the clock this includes the time spent installing plates on an otherwise completed building.

What kind of gloves?

The company I now work for requires hard hat and safety glasses at all times. Given the quality products they've supplied me, I wear them without complaint. That, and their checks clear.

 

[mdshunk]

What kind of gloves?

Eh, I've worked for outfits like that before. Not so much that you needed to actually wear your gloves every minute, but you needed them in your back pocket or clipped on your belt loop with one of those glove holder roach clip thing-a-ma-jigs. If you were doing something with your hands heavy duty (pulling wire, moving material, digging, etc.) then you better well have your gloves on. I don't really know too many guys that actually reported little scuffs and blisters on their hands, though, so I'm not sure what the idea is. Guess it theoretically prevents big cuts like you can get from sheet metal installing lay-in fixtures and such.

 

[iwire]

Guess it theoretically prevents big cuts like you can get from sheet metal installing lay-in fixtures and such.

You nailed it.

It turns out cuts where becoming a major cost so we get gloves.

When the guys are handling fixtures I make sure they have the gloves on, beyond that it is up to them. The lid and glasses are not optional for the construction guys.

Most of them use them for MC pulling at the least it keeps your hands clean for lunch.

 

[ramsy]

Many GCs have a hard hat policy that requires lids on all the time.

Remember one GC had a flamboyant-pink hard that he forced people to wear, if caught without a hard hat. If caught 3 times, or refusing to wear pink, they were thrown off the job.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

Remember one GC had a flamboyant-pink hard that he forced people to wear, if caught without a hard hat. If caught 3 times, or refusing to wear pink, they were thrown off the job.

And on his first day off for not wearing the pink hat he will be sitting down with lawyer

 

[ramsy]

Never will forget the NECA jobsite forman that told me not to wear sleeveless shirts. It was hot as xxxx, and I said I didn't have any other shirts, unless he bought them for me.

About a week later all the forman ganged up on me and said get sleeves or get the hell out. So, the next day I showed up wearing sleeved shirts with big-fat logos from the rival-bidding-xxxx shop that just lost the bid for that jobsite. The day after that, they threw handfulls of different-collor shirts at me, orange, blue, black, & white, all with their own company logo promantly visible.

Believe it or not they kept me quite a while after that, and I still use their shirts to change the oil on my vehicles. Nice to have some momentoes of those fond memories.

Edit language and comments.

 

[winnie]

Someone either here or on ECN pointed out these:

http://industrialsavings.com/Mercha...D&Product_Code=VCB200&Category_Code=hh-cowboy




-Jon

 

[muskiedog]

Osha

Osha

Sorry,

Ididn't know what I was thinking you are correct. If you have one employee its covered. Reporting requirements is 10 or more.

Also safety equipment is only required where their is a know hazard but some worksites do a blanket type safety program that you just wear it at all times. Job hazard analysis will help you determine what you need and I do not think that TV land would do any of that.

Plus correct me if I am wrong but if you have contractors and not employees then you would not fall under osha since they are not your employees but are providing a service for you and then OSHA would be there problem not yours.

 

[iwire]

And on his first day off for not wearing the pink hat he will be sitting down with lawyer

And they will get nowhere with that.

A hard hat is a legitimate job requirement, there is no requirement that the person like the hat.

As you can guess we have pink hats for those that have a habit of forgetting the white one.

As our shop requires a hard hat every day there is no real excuse for not having yours with you.

 

[iwire]

Plus correct me if I am wrong but if you have contractors and not employees then you would not fall under osha since they are not your employees but are providing a service for you and then OSHA would be there problem not yours.

I believe you are correct but do not take my word alone on that.

 

[Jim W in Tampa]

And they will get nowhere with that.

A hard hat is a legitimate job requirement, there is no requirement that the person like the hat.

As you can guess we have pink hats for those that have a habit of forgetting the white one.

As our shop requires a hard hat every day there is no real excuse for not having yours with you.

Dont bet the farm on that.Its called harrasment.Now perfectly ok to send him home but when you force him to wear pink you crossed the line.its sexual harrasment and any jury would agree.

 

[George Stolz]

Most of them use them for MC pulling at the least it keeps your hands clean for lunch.

Just checking.

I wear these virtually all day long, if I don't I come home bloody.

 

[ramsy]

..when you force him to wear pink you crossed the line.its sexual harrasment and any jury would agree.

Havn't heard of anyone procecuting that one yet. Perhaps, wilth the legal violations inherant to most construction sites, this kind of litigious mindset would have found much more egregious causes of action to prosecute, long before the pink hardhat.

 

[iwire]

Dont bet the farm on that.Its called harassment.Now perfectly ok to send him home but when you force him to wear pink you crossed the line.its sexual harrasment and any jury would agree.

No it's not harassment Jim, it is a well known fact that this company's spare helmets are pink.

Would you explain why you believe the color pink is harassing?

BTW, the employee always has the choice not to wear any of the safety gear, they just don't get paid.