Barracks and workplaces up for inspection

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be visiting about 200 workplaces and company-provided housing throughout this week to check if businesses are complying with OSHA standards.

Frank Strasheim, the San Francisco-based regional administrator of OSHA, said inspections are generally unannounced except for companies that have existing partnerships with OSHA and those that had an accident resulting in death or critical injury of a worker.

“We don’t give notice to a company that we’re coming, although it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that OSHA’s in town. They only need to read the newspaper to figure that out,” Strasheim said. “But we don’t care if people read that and they improve; the bottom line is making those improvements. Anyway, it’s pretty hard to change real things that quickly.”

Strasheim said most of the places to be inspected are workers’ barracks, where serious problems are commonly found.

He noted that providing housing to employees is a major responsibility for employers, as it entails 24 hours a day—instead of just eight hours—of providing a clean and healthy environment for workers.

“To be frank with you, we don’t find a lot of labor barracks on the mainland. There’s a lot of Hispanic workers in the [United States] but, with the exception of farmers, they all come in with full protection of the law but they all stay in their own places,” he added. “We find a lot more people staying in company-provided housing here than we do anywhere else. That takes a lot of responsibility. A lot of injuries occur after work hours. You have to provide clean water, clean environment, adequate room, decent meals if it’s part of the contract, and a place that will not burn down.”

Nevertheless, Strasheim reported that the level of commitment to health and safety that OSHA has been seeing in CNMI employers over the past years equal to—or even frequently surpass—what the agency sees on the mainland.

He praised CNMI businesses for the many improvements they have done over the past years, particularly in the lines of sanitation, and water and food quality.

“Progress is slow, but it’s a quantum leap forward,” he said.

Strasheim also stressed the importance of following up on positive efforts, urging those who have done improvements to keep up the good work and to help other companies make improvements themselves.

“This stuff is not easy, and we realize that. But you can’t go lax because it’s not only important to avoid OSHA citations, it’s also the right thing to do for the workers and I think it’s good for business,” Strasheim said.

As for other companies that have not done anything toward compliance, Strasheim said: “Don’t rest on the hard work of others, get in and do your part and you won’t have to worry about OSHA.”

The Northern Marianas Alliance for Safety and Health, a partnership between OSHA and CNMI businesses, will lead the 2nd Annual Governor’s Safety and Health Conference on Aug. 17 through Aug. 20.

Trainers and presenters from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Region IX in San Francisco, the OSHA Institute in Illinois, and the local CNMI government, will conduct simultaneous construction industry and general industry tracks over a three-day period. Attendees who complete the entire three-day sessions will be awarded OSHA training certifications.

The conference will also include opening ceremonies by NMASH co-chairs Richard A. Pierce and Al Johnson, and remarks by Gov. Juan N. Babauta and Strasheim.

To be tackled at the general and breakout sessions are topics that include fire prevention, suppression and evacuation, respirator training, hazardous materials handling, long shoring, public safety for workers, sanitation in food procurement, ergonomics, nursing homes, safe drinking water, hospitals, blood-borne pathogens, First Aid & CPR training in English, Mandarin and Tagalog, and domestic violence in the workplace.

DEQ will discuss its upcoming partnership with the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association while the CNMI-OSHA On-site Consultation Office will also be introduced to the over 200 employers expected to attend the conference.