HUNT VALLEY, MD, APRIL 10, 2008 - With heavy equipment operators among those most likely to be injured or killed on work sites due to high-risk construction hazards, a leading national environmental contractor is sharing its successful safety training program to help protect other men and women who work in this dangerous field. In the spirit of cooperation, MARCOR Remediation, Inc. is sharing information with others to help develop new "toolbox talks" covering the four main killers of construction workers: falls, electrocutions, struck-by hazards, and caught-in/between hazards. OSHA calls these the "Focus Four" hazards.

An industry organization that creates safety and health training programs for 400,000 members throughout the U.S. and Canada was awarded a Susan Harwood Training Grant from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The grant is being used to design a new safety training program for master instructors, who will then conduct the training sessions at over 200 locations. The grant specifies "the effective use of toolbox talks" as an integral part of the overall program. Unfortunately, although toolbox talks have been the main method for providing critical safety information to construction workers for decades, very little research has been conducted on what format is most effective.

MARCOR's Senior Health and Safety Officer, Bruce Lippy, Ph.D., CIH, CSP, who was instrumental in developing MARCOR's "Safety Beyond Compliance Program" and its series of toolbox talks, is also a consultant for the Harwood Grant-funded safety training initiative. As one familiar with the measurable successes of MARCOR's site-specific safety meetings, he asked if MARCOR would be willing to share its knowledge. "When it comes to protecting workers, everyone should work together to produce improved safety communications," he said.

MARCOR credits in part its "Safety Beyond Compliance" program, which reinforces good safety behavior and includes components to evaluate safety performance and track measurable goals, to its excellent reputation in the environmental community. "The program, which includes the toolbox talks, builds on upper management leadership and employee involvement to achieve strong and continuing progress in the field of safety and health," Lippy explained. "The new toolbox talks that are being developed with MARCOR's cooperation are noteworthy because they include real case studies as recommended by NIOSH researchers, give the presenter very good support materials, and are systematic in their approach. Unlike most talks, these get the workers very involved in the process by continuously asking questions rather than telling them what to do or not do. Eventually, talks may even be available as podcasts to be downloaded to cell phones."

Lippy said that MARCOR's cooperation on the Harwood Grant is particularly meaningful since the grant salutes the late Susan Harwood, an OSHA director who helped develop standards to protect employees exposed to hazards like asbestos and lead in construction as well as bloodborne pathogens. MARCOR's employees themselves are often exposed to these types of hazards.