INSIDE COMPLIANCE

Compliance is easier to manage when responsibility is clear from the start. Construction projects often involve general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and other trades, each with different roles and expertise. Before work begins, the parties use contracts to define those roles and establish who will handle different aspects of the project. But those contractual provisions do not necessarily eliminate a general contractor’s independent obligations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Under OSHA’s Multi-Employer Citation Policy (Citation Policy), a general contractor may be subject to a citation when it has sufficient authority over a worksite and fails to exercise reasonable care to address hazardous conditions. OSHA’s analysis could benefit from emphasizing private contracts when determining whether a general contractor exercised reasonable care, making enforcement more consistent with how construction projects actually operate.