The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced that is delaying enforcement of parts of a new rule aimed increasing workplace and construction site safety. The provisions specifically address post-reporting retaliation and were set to take effect on August 10, 2016, but have been pushed back to November 1, 2016, so affected companies and contractors have more time to become educated about the new requirements. At least one lawsuit has also been filed by industry and trade groups seeking to have the provisions removed from the rule altogether.

An active construction site is an extremely dangerous environment. A single project can require dozens of subcontractors, hundreds of workers, and countless tons of vehicles and machinery. Each year, thousands of workers are injured while working on or visiting a construction site. In addition, nearly 20 percent of all on-the-job fatalities occur in the construction industry. With so many moving people and parts, it is virtually inevitable that accidents will sometimes occur, as two workers in Sacramento recently discovered.