Barry Holliday Dredging Contractors of America · • Tackling Tough Issues. Monitoring Safety Rulemakings ... • USACE and Industry revised contract language for dredging jobs ...

Barry Holliday

Dredging Contractors of America

Dredging 2012 Conference

October 22-25, 2012

San Diego, CA

Mission & Goals

Membership

Partnering

Work Products

Rulemakings

Issues

USACE EM 385-1-1 Safety Manual Rewrite

Our Mission

To improve safety standards and best practices for the dredging and marine construction industry.

Our Goals

• Promote a culture of safety at all levels• Resolve safety issues• Apply lessons learned• Enhance marine safety training• Foster the development of safety management systems

Membership

Open to all Industry contractors, labor unions, Federal agencies, safety professionals and trade associations.

Current Members

CDMCS Members Partner on Safety

• Discussing Accident/Injury Trends and Positive Developments

• Sharing Best Practices

• Coordinating Revisions to the Corps Safety Manual

• Monitoring Regulatory Rulemakings and Coordinating Individual/Group Public Comments

• Developing Safety Bitts and Toolbox Topics

• Tackling Tough Issues

Monitoring Safety Rulemakings

• Automatic Identification Systems & Notice of Arrival/Departureo Final Rule – Fall 2012 ~ USCG

o Purpose = to identify and track vessels in the interest of national security, improve safety on the water, and heighten maritime domain awareness

o Expands AIS applicability beyond VTS areas to all U.S. navigable waters

o Expands AIS applicability to additional commercial vessels, incl. dredges and floating platforms

o Expands NOAD applicability to all commercial vessels under 300 GT, all foreign commercial vessels, and all U.S. commercial vessels coming from a foreign port

Monitoring Safety Rulemakings

• Confined Spaces in Construction (OSHA)o Final Rule – Fall 2012

o Purpose = to protect construction workers operating in confined spaces

o Extends to the construction industry regulations that currently cover the general industry

• Tracking Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA)o Proposed Rule – Fall 2012 – OMB review extended

o Purpose = to improve recordkeeping and prevent injuries/illnesses through continuous real-time (rather than once/yr.) collection of injury/illness data in a modern, electronic format

• Injury & Illness Recording & Reporting Requirements (OSHA)o Public Comment Analysis Stage

o Purpose = to facilitate timely investigation of incidents & quick mitigation of hazards

o Current reporting rule – 8 hrs. - fatalities, 8 hrs. - in-patient hospitalizations of 3 or more employees

o Proposed reporting rule – 8 hrs. - fatalities, 8 hrs. - all in-patient hospitalizations , 24 hrs. – all amputations

Monitoring Safety Rulemakings

• Towing Vessel Inspections (USCG)o Final Rule – Later this year, exact date TBD (directed by CG Transportation Acts of

2004 and 2010)

o Purpose = to promote safer work practices and reduce casualties on towing vessels by setting a variety of operational and machinery-related standards

o Safety compliance can be achieved by either adopting an audited safety mgmtsystem or undergoing annual CG inspections

o Dredging industry supports the 2 options for compliance – greater flexibility

o Proposed Rule retains exemptions for 1. towboats < 26ft. and 2. workboats intermittently moving equipment exclusively within a dredging or construction worksite – however, this may go away in future as CG staggers implementation

Cranes and Derricks in Construction Final Rule (OSHA)

• Effective November 9, 2010

• Significant New Requirements• Pre-erection inspection of crane parts

• Working safely near power lines

• Crane operators must be qualified and/or certified

• Crane Operator Certification/Qualification Issue• OSHA granted 4 year phase-in for crane operator certification; USACE did not

• Existing accredited certification companies are geared toward land-based crane operators, not marine; their timed exams are inappropriate for operators of floating cranes

• 2 Options for Industry to Certify/Qualify Crane Operators: 1) Use an accredited crane testing organization (NCCCO,NCCER, CIC, etc.) or 2) Use a 3rd party or in-house Qualified Person (until Nov 14, 2014, at which time a certified auditor that is not an employee of the company must be used), as long as the employer training program is audited. Note: if a lack of certified auditors persists past Nov 14, contractors will be allowed to continue using in-house Qualified Persons.

Site Safety & Health Officer Requirements on USACE Jobsites

• Variable interpretations and enforcement of language in 2008 EM385-1-1 by USACE Districts created confusion regarding duties, experience, training, etc.

• USACE and Industry revised contract language for dredging jobs

• Effective in UFGS, Guidance sent to the Districts

• What are the new requirements?• SSHO for one shift, Alternate SSHO with collateral duties covers other shifts

• SSHO can be a collateral duty aboard hopper dredges and on dredges with a workforce crew less than 8/shift

• 1 SSHO per project site, unless specified differently in advance by District

• Experience requirement lowered from 5 to 3 yrs., its definition expanded

• Designated Rep. required at all remote work locations > 45 min. from SSHO location

• USACE to include this new spec language in the EM385 Safety Manual

Swimming to Perform Coastal Surveys

• Prohibited on all USACE project sites per EM385-1-1

• Yet, swimming had become a practice by both industry and the Corps

• Was a method for extending the topographic survey without jeopardizing crews aboard survey boats

• USACE granted waivers to industry, when following interim swimming guidance

• After review and industry feedback, USACE decided to continue prohibiting swimming in the interest of safety; industry should pursue technological solutions and/or coordinate other options with the Division Chiefs

• New Draft Language in Corps Safety Manual reads as follows: “Swimming and/or diving shall be prohibited for all personnel, except certified divers in the performance of their duties, unless necessary to prevent injury or loss of life.”

Underwater Utilities in the Dredging Footprint• Pipeline/cable crossings & ownership data in contracts and permits are often

inaccurate creating hazards for crews, vessels, environment, local communities;increasing project costs

• Utility company cooperation on safety is inconsistent and unreliable.

• Contractor cannot hold utility company responsible for economic damages (projectdelay and labor/material downtime) resulting from faulty markings or a lackthereof (Excavation Tech. v. Columbia Gas of PA, 2009)

• USACE issued Utility Line Guidance to the Field on May 31• Calls for greater coordination & info sharing between Regulatory and Navigation in the

Districts

• Instructs Regulatory to provide copies of all permits to National Ocean Service

• Requires depth and toe data for future permits

• Emphasizes USACE’s power to make utility owner remove/relocate line if safety hazard

• USACE and Industry working to include language in EM385-1-1 rewrite, seekingGuidance Letter from HQ, & considering improved contract spec language

Poorly Marked/Unmarked Underwater Utilities are a Serious Threat to Human Life and the Environment

USACE EM 385-1-1 (2008) Rewrite• A comprehensive rewrite with a high degree of industry participation

• USACE, DCA, AGC and CDMCS all working together

• Rewrite schedule includes 3 rounds of drafts

• Currently awaiting release of Draft #2 on Nov. 5, comments due by end-Jan.

• Expect a summer publication

• Key areas under review: Section 1 - Program Mgmt., Section 16 Cranes & HoistingEquip., and Section 19 – Floating Plant

How Can I Get Involved?

• Send request through CDMCS’ Contact Us page at www.cdmcs.org.

• Attend a quarterly meeting as a guest.

• $500 for first year, $250/yr. thereafter – grants full access to member products

• Come attend our quarterly meetings.