NDA partners with OSHA on best practice

The US National Demolition Association (NDA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have worked together to ensure best demolition practices are being followed at jobsites across the USA.

The effort culminated into demolition-specific training by NDA for OSHA compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) to access across the country. The organisations said their collaboration is part of an ongoing effort to provide training, procedures and continued education within the demolition industry.

The new training is a four-part training series for OSHA on demolition best practices and techniques which focus on robotics, fall protection, health hazards, and pre-engineering. The NDA’s secretary James Milburn, NDA government affairs committee chairperson Dennis McGarel, member Don Collier and NDA instructor Tim Barker developed and led the recorded training.

The NDA said this open communication is a large step toward advancing the demolition industry, and that the training series will help CSHOs understand unique best practices, processes and jobsite needs for demolition professionals. With this knowledge, OSHA will be better equipped to communicate with demolition professionals to ensure its standards are being followed.

This training was originally scheduled for April was intended a hybrid of classroom instruction and on-site demonstration for CSHOs located in the American upper Midwest. Following the outbreak of Covid-19 it was reformatted for digital consumption, so all OSHA compliance officers could use it.

“This training is part of a yearlong effort to implement an alliance that will provide members with OSHA compliance assistance,” said NDA President Chris Godek.

“A continued partnership with OSHA positions NDA as the voice of the demolition industry.”