OSHA and Turner Construction establish strategic partnership

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Turner Construction Company, based in New York, have established a strategic partnership to promote workplace safety for a building project at UPMC Hamot hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The partnership seeks to educate workers, control or eliminate serious hazards and establish effective safety and health programs for the project. Located at 201 State St., the project – scheduled for completion in 2020 – includes a 200,000 square-foot, seven-floor patient care building.

Through its Strategic Partnership Program, which was established in 1998, OSHA works with employers, employees, professional and trade associations, labor organizations and other interested stakeholders to establish specific goals, strategies and performance measures to improve worker safety and health. OSHA Strategic Partnerships focus on improving safety and health in major corporations, government agencies, at large construction projects and private sector industries where OSHA has jurisdiction. Most OSHA Strategic Partnerships are based out of local OSHA Area or Regional Offices.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to help ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.