Memo to Cabinet Heads Says Stimulus Projects Will Be Under Increased Inspections
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis warns that OSHA will increase inspections at federal worksites in connection with projects funded by the economic stimulus bill, with a special focus on construction work. “As you undertake these new projects, please be mindful that the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration may be conducting increased inspections of federal worksites…” Solis said.
She singled out construction work as including “some of the more consistently hazardous worksites,” saying OSHA would be “focusing its resources to account for the anticipated increase in construction projects and related activities” as a result of the stimulus funding.
The three-page letter further urged the other cabinet secretaries to “…take steps to safeguard both federal workers and contractors…” involved in stimulus bill projects that fund expanded infrastructure, new construction projects, or any other new work or worksites. Solis also urged the cabinet secretaries to enroll their staff in a two-day training program OSHA will be offering for federal employees at OSHA Training Institute centers across the country.
President Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget request seeks funding for 130 new OSHA inspectors, with a special focus on foreign-speaking inspectors to address changes in workplace demographics. Solis told a Senate appropriations subcommittee May 13 that the budget request will “restore OSHA’s enforcement presence in the nation’s workplace.”
More than $88 billion in stimulus funds has been disbursed, according to the White House’s first quarterly report on the stimulus, released May 13.