Skip to main content

News Briefs

Date Posted: June 11 2004

MIOSHA works OT for safety sake 
MIOSHA Construction Safety and Health Division inspectors will be stepping up visits to state job sites this summer during non-traditional hours – including evenings and weekends.

Division Manager Rick Mee said the state has released additional money and authorization for safety inspectors to make unannounced visits to construction sites for an eight-week period. There are 19 construction safety inspectors and seven construction safety hygienists on MIOSHA’s staff.

“During a period of increased construction activity, we will have an increased presence in the workplace, making inspections of job sites during non-traditional hours,” Mee said. The evening and weekend visits by inspectors haven’t been made over the last two years because of state budgetary considerations.

Inspectors will be looking for violations in various areas, Mee said, including fall protection, trenching and masonry wall construction.

Sluggish market, sluggish wage hikes
The construction labor market has continued to feel the effects of a sluggish 2003, which will lead to “restrained” wage increases through the end of the year.

So says the Wage Trend Indicator Report released May 18 by the Bureau of National Affairs, which said wage increases will likely remain under 3 percent into 2005 because the labor market is feeling the lagged effects of higher unemployment and weak industrial production.

Road money still stalled in Congress
There is little movement reported in Congress on the passing of a transportation funding bill that both Democrats and Republicans want – but at a cost no one can agree upon.

Earlier this month, the U.S. House overwhelmingly approved the spending of $275 billion over six years. Previously, the Senate voted to spend $318 billion over the same time period. President Bush, suddenly conscious in this election year of the nation’s ballooning deficit, has maintained that the nation should spend no more than $256 billion through 2009.

The Construction Labor Report said staff-level meetings in Congress were forced to “a screeching halt” because of the inability to come to an agreement over the dollar amount for funding.