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October 2014
 
Below is a recap of recent news from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. DLI oversees the state's programs for apprenticeship, construction codes and licensing, occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, and workers' compensation.

Code books
Resources about new Minnesota building codes available from DLI

Minnesota is adopting a new set of updated construction codes that will go into effect in early 2015. Copies of the code books are now available for purchase and will soon be available for free online viewing.

DLI is working with the International Code Council to produce the Minnesota State Building Code books that include only those chapters from the model codes and specific amendments used in Minnesota.

Code book fact sheets about each of the proposed codes are available from DLI. These fact sheets describe each of the codes, where to obtain them and when they go into effect. Learn more about the new codes.


UnderConstruction participants
UnderConstruction marks 10 years

In 2014, the UnderConstruction Program marks 10 years of providing metro-area youth with hands-on experience and exposure to apprenticeship careers in the construction trades.

This year, the program trained 36 youth ages 15 to 21 at three different sites. The students built garages in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood and porches and decks in North Minneapolis.

Minnesota OSHA's Safety Grant Program helps Michigan offer similar incentive 

Minnesota OSHA Workplace Safety Consultation (WSC) administers its Safety Grant Program that awards funds of up to $10,000 to qualifying employers for projects designed to reduce the risk of injury and illness to their workers.

Michigan OSHA (MIOSHA) recently contacted WSC for help to create a similiar program for Michigan employers. MIOSHA has now launched a one-year grant program modeled on Minnesota's program.

Michigan is celebrating its 40th anniversary as an OSHA state-plan state, a milestone Minnesota reached in 2013. The legislation for Minnesota OSHA's grant program was enacted in 1993, with the first awards in 1995. To date, the program has provided nearly 3,000 safety grants -- and more than $2.5 million -- to qualifying Minnesota employers.

Ebola virus disease and information resources

DLI has added Ebola information resources on its website and will update the information as needed. Currently, most workers in the U.S. are unlikely to encounter Ebola virus or individuals with Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EHF).

However, exposure to the virus or someone with EHF could be more likely for:
Ebola virus image
  • nurses, physicians, and workers in medical labs, housekeeping and cleaning staff, and others at medical facilities;
  • ambulance personnel and others who transport patients;
  • clean-up crews that service homes, airplanes, and other sites where contamination occurs;
  • humanitarian aid workers who travel to areas affected by infection;
  • medical waste transport and disposal crews to handle contaminated waste;
  • airport screeners, flight attendants, and others who could have direct contact with symptomatic individuals;
  • morticians and others who transport or handle bodies for burials or cremation.
Apprentices become carpenters at St. Paul training center
Apprentices at the training center.
Apprentices work at the North Central States Regional Training Center in St. Paul. The carpentry program is the largest in Minnesota. Read more and view a slideshow of images in the Apprenticeship Works newsletter.
Lou-Rich worksite newest MNSHARP recipient 

Lou-Rich facility in Albert Lea MN

Workers from the Lou-Rich facility in Albert Lea, Minn., received an occupational safety and health (OSHA) award from the DLI Oct. 29.


 

The worksite was recognized as a Minnesota Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (MNSHARP) worksite by DLI Commissioner Ken Peterson.


 

The award recognizes organizations where managers and employees work together to develop exemplary safety and health programs that prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. Lou-Rich is one of 35 active MNSHARP worksites in Minnesota.

Ask Minnesota OSHA Compliance
FAQs answered in each quarterly edition of Safety Lines newsletter

"Are farms covered under Minnesota OSHA regulations?"

"Can I use an app on my smartphone to monitor sound levels?"

Minnesota OSHA Compliance staff members answer questions each day for employees, employers and anyone else who asks in person or by phone, mail or email. Several such questions -- and their answers -- are featured in each edition of MNOSHA's free quarterly newsletter Safety Lines.

View the most recent edition (with answers to the questions posed above), access the archives or subscribe to be notified of a new edition at www.dli.mn.gov/OSHA/SafetyLines.asp.

Workers' comp symposium focuses on electronic transactions
Meeting mandates, making the connection:  Electronic health care transactions

An industry-wide symposium Nov. 5 will gather workers' compensation insurers, health care providers, clearinghouses, bill review services and others to discuss the requirement -- in Minnesota and other states -- that common health care transactions, such as billings, acknowledgements and remittance advices, be exchanged electronically.

The symposium is sponsored jointly by the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Health, both of which want to know more about how these electronic transactions are working in the industry and what users need to help them be successful.


Construction sites partner with MNOSHA Compliance

University of MN project
University of Minnesota project
Metropolitan State project
Metropolitan State project
Minnesota OSHA signed two cooperative compliance partnership agreements with M.A. Mortenson Company for its University of Minnesota Mechanical Engineering Building remodel worksite in Minneapolis and Metropolitan State Science building project.

The partnership is through the Construction Health and Safety Excellence (CHASE) Minnesota intiative jointly agreed upon by Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Minnesota and Minnesota OSHA Compliance. Each partnership acknowledges the importance of providing a safe, healthful work environment in construction and seeks a working relationship that creates mutual trust and respect among all parties -- including project owners and construction workers -- involved in the construction process.

OSHA CCP logo
Learn more about MNOSHA's partnership programs ...
 
"Labor and Industry is committed to ensuring equitable, healthy and safe work and living environments in Minnesota. Through outreach, education and compliance efforts, we strive to improve the quality of life for Minnesota workers and their families."
-- DLI Commissioner Ken Peterson
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