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NEWS RELEASE July 25, 2006 For more information, contact Steve Houston at 314/721-2828. PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc. Mobilizes Construction Industry to Achieve 100% OSHA 10-Hour Safety Certification of All Union Craft Workers PRIDE Reports More Than Half of the Union Workforce is 100% Certified ST. LOUIS – With construction dollar volume in St. Louis nearing $5 billion in 2005, PRIDE of St. Louis, Inc., the region’s venerable labor-management organization, seeks to add to the momentum by making safety a key selling point for the region’s union construction industry. PRIDE has mobilized local union construction trades to achieve 100% OSHA 10-Hour Safety Certification for its craft workers. The OSHA 10-Hour Safety course covers basic risk mitigation issues on construction sites. “We have the best-trained workforce in the country,” said Jim LaMantia, executive director of PRIDE. “We also want to be recognized as the safest workforce in the country. Safety is clearly a competitive asset. By mitigating risk, OSHA 10 certification presents us with a powerful bargaining tool to meet the demands of buyers of construction.” Since mobilizing the area’s union construction trades 11 months ago, LaMantia says well over half of those craft workers have become 100% OSHA 10 certified. Six trades have achieved OSHA 10 certification for more than 90% of their membership. Three trades, the Boilermakers Union Local No. 27, Carpenters’ District Council of Greater St. Louis and Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 36, have reached 100% certification. Others at better than 90% are Asbestos Workers Local No. 1, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union No. 562, and Iron Workers Local No. 396. “It’s taken a team effort to get more than half of our workforce 100% OSHA 10 certified in less than a year,” said LaMantia. “Jerry Feldhaus was instrumental in uniting members of the local Building and Construction Trades Council to help PRIDE advance its goal.” Feldhaus is executive secretary of the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO and serves as PRIDE labor co-chair. OSHA 10 Training Reduces Lost Time Injuries Tom Rehkemper, director of safety for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of St. Louis, reports that studies conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America show that contractors who train workers in OSHA 10 have seen reductions of up to 66% in lost time injuries. The training provides a variety of instruction on safety and health standards and is tailored to a trade’s given line of work. The core curriculum includes electrical safety; fall protection; personal protective and lifesaving equipment; materials handling; hand and power tool safety; scaffolding; heavy equipment operation; excavations; and stairways and ladders. "The St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers (SLCCC), which represents buyers of construction services, is supportive of requiring OSHA 10-hour training certification in all construction contracts,” said Dennis Lavallee, SLCCC president. "The Council is developing language for use in contracts to provide uniformity. We're pleased that PRIDE has taken such a proactive approach to making the construction workforce safer.” SLCCC is a member of PRIDE. All craft apprenticeship programs have instructors certified to teach the OSHA course. Also, several contractor groups, such as the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the St. Louis AGC, have full-time safety professionals who are certified to teach it. Craft workers who prefer the electronic mode of instruction can get it from several providers on a 24/7 basis. “This is no-brainer for our industry,” said LaMantia. “It makes the entire job site safer. It helps contactors lower costs by reducing workers compensation rates and ultimately lowers project costs to buyers of construction. If we build the best and the safest, it should make St. Louis a more attractive place to build.” According to the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA), the St. Louis area reported $4.934 billion in construction dollar volume in 2005 – its highest total ever. In 2004, the figure was $4.88 billion. By comparison, construction volume was $3.2 billion in 2000. PRIDE, founded in 1972, is an acronym for Productivity and Responsibility Increase Development & Employment. PRIDE has worked to maintain harmony and build cooperation among St. Louis area AFL-CIO construction craft workers, contractors, construction buyers, architects, engineers and suppliers for more than 30 years. For more information, key www.prideconstruction.org.
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