ABC Calls for Public-Private Collaboration on Safety Regulations

In testimony before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) said the chairman of its National Safety and Health Committee called for a collaborative effort between industry and the federal government to increase workplace safety and promote economic opportunity in the United States.

Ryan Odendahl, who is president of civil and environmental construction firm Kwest Group, Perrysburg, OH, told members of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee at a hearing titled Regulatory Reform: Unleashing Economic Opportunity for Workers and Employers, about ABC’s Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP), which allows firms to measure their safety processes and policies and learn how to improve safety programs already in place on their jobsites.

ABC said the best-performing participants in its STEP program are 670% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics industry average, with an 85 percent reduction in total recordable incident rates (TRIR).

“The collective goal of zero harm can best be achieved as a collaborative effort between regulators and industry professionals.“ Odendahl said, “Our companies and industry experts, I firmly believe, are anxious to share their valuable experiences to promote workplace safety.”