The centerpiece of the alliance will be a series of free, monthly, roundtable meetings to be held the first Wednesday of each month – September through June – at the New England Institute for Technology in West Warwick or at other locations in Rhode Island.
Each meeting will focus on specific construction safety and health topics, and offer SAFER members opportunities to network with safety professionals, learn how to control safety hazards, share lessons learned, exchange information, discuss OSHA regulations and review local injury and illness trends.
“We want to reach out to everyone in the state's construction community - small and large employers, their employees and trainees, safety and health professionals - and provide them with practical, useful information and productive dialogue that will help them better identify, evaluate and eliminate hazards before they harm workers,” said Patrick Griffin, OSHA’s area director for Rhode Island.
OSHA and SAFER also will share information on construction safety best practices and effective approaches, encourage SAFER members to build relationships with OSHA’s area and regional offices, promote SAFER members’ or worksites’ participation in OSHA’s cooperative programs, speak and exhibit at OSHA and SAFER events and explore other methods of communicating safety and health information to the state’s construction industry.
Members of the state's construction industry interested in learning more about the SAFER alliance can contact Maryann Medeiros, the compliance assistance specialist in OSHA’s Providence Area Office, at (401) 528-4669.