The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Directorate of Construction Director Scott Ketcham gave a review of the agency’s focus on the construction industry at the American Bar Association’s 2023 Midwinter Meeting of the Workplace and Occupational Safety and Health Law Committee on March 10, 2023.

Director Ketcham began his remarks with some sobering, but unsurprising, statistics. According to Director Ketcham, a worker is three times more likely to die on a construction site than in general industry. He noted that, although construction represents only 8% of all workers, OSHA conducts more than 50% of its inspections on construction employers. He highlighted that 40% of deaths are related to falls. However, he noted that there is a disturbing increase in the rate of trench fatalities and reiterated that, if a Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) happens to drive by a site and sees an excavation, they are required to stop and inspect. This was “near and dear to OSHA’s heart” and OSHA has been issuing more willful citations because, most of the time, the protective equipment for an open trench is onsite, just not in the trench itself.

He stated that, because the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be injecting a tremendous of money flowing into construction over the next seven years, OSHA is ramping up capacity to conduct inspections. Some areas of focus will be construction of roadways, bridges, airports, railways, ports, waterways, and power and...

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