NDA partners with OSHA to uphold best practices on demolition job sites

The National Demolition Association (NDA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced on Sept. 3 that the organizations have partnered to ensure demolition best practices are being followed on job sites across the U.S. Through this collaboration, NDA will provide demolition-specific training for OSHA compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) that can be accessed across the country. The collaboration between the two organizations is part of an ongoing effort to provide training, procedures and continued education within the demolition industry.

The new training is a four-part training series for OSHA on demolition best practices and techniques which focus on robotics, fall protection, health hazards and pre-engineering. NDA Secretary James Milburn, NDA Government Affairs Committee Chairperson Dennis McGarel, NDA member Don Collier and NDA instructor Tim Barker developed and led these recorded trainings.

According to the NDA, the training series will help CSHOs understand unique best practices, processes and job site needs for demolition professionals. With this knowledge, OSHA will be better equipped to communicate with demolition professionals to ensure OSHA standards are being followed, which will enhance safety practices.

This training was originally scheduled for April 3, and was supposed to be a hybrid of live classroom instruction and on-site demonstration for CSHOs located in the upper Midwest. However, due to COVID-19, the training was reformatted for digital consumption, allowing access to all OSHA compliance officers.

NDA and OSHA have a mutual goal to enter into an alliance agreement as soon as the fall following the completion of the training series. The alliance agreement will allow the two organizations to partner on initiatives to help propel the demolition industry forward.

"This training is part of a yearlong effort to implement an alliance that will provide members with OSHA compliance assistance," NDA President Chris Godek says. "A continued partnership between NDA and OSHA positions NDA as the voice of the demolition industry. The partnership gives our members access to compliance assistance resources and leverages greater communication between our organizations on compliance and standards that have an impact on demotion practices."

This new training will be available to all federal and state OSHA personnel through OSHA's Directorate of Training and Education.