osha, kilts, and construction

[bubba]

I'd rite or call OSHA. You may well be required to cover your legs while working at a construction site, but just delivering parts to one may be a different thing.

[Cawdorian]

The specific citation is Subpart E, 1926.95, the employer is required to protect the employee from specific hazards encountered in the workplace. Many employers have safety policies that are more stringent than OSHA. If the safety policy of the employer requires long pants on their construction sites, the employer can be cited and fined by OSHA for not enforcing their own safety policy. This policy is designed to protect the employee from cuts, scrapes, abraisions, dermatitis and exposure to various cemicals.

Long pants are required on all of our construction sites. If you show up to deliver materials without long pants, hard hat, safety vest and safety glasses you would not be allowed to enter the construction site, if you were allowed to enter the site, you would not be allowed to leave the truck cab. My employer is engaged in Highway and Heavy Construction. Residential contractors operate in a totally different environment, many are not familiar with OSHA regulations.

OSHA tends to concentrate most of their inspection and enforcement efforts on the medium and larger contractors.

[MacSimoin]

Having worked in the construction business in years past I agree with Bubba and Cawdorian, that is if this issue is of serious concern for you.

Have a look here: OSHA Criteria for personal protective equipment. I don't know if it will help but it's worth a quick read if you haven't seen it yet.

If I were you, I'd approach your own boss first and foremost to see if it's potentially a legal issue; secondly, when you visit a jobsite, inquire with the jobsite foreman (or foreperson, for all you PC types) on whether or not your kilt is in violation of company standards. I wouldn't take the plumber at his word although I'm sure he was probably correct when it comes to his own being there. Hope this helps.

[Southern Breeze]

I think it's a matter of common sense as well. I work in landscaping and there are numerous occaisions when I wear pants. Some of those are wet and muddy areas, applying chemicals, operating chainsaws, jackhammers etc. Kilts ARE nice to to work in but they have their limits.

[Frank McGrath]

The next best thing to do is to call you state osha office. Maryland has their own safety office that is usually called out by the Md State Police whenever there is an injury on the jobb. Hospitals are required (in Md) to notify the MSP whenever someone comes in injured. The last company I worked for was fined BIG for a Fork lift related injury and the worst part was the three morons working on the lift were not osha spec trained. I tried several times, but operations manager says we need you guys on the floor. Politics. I never got to train them. But all this happened before I got my first kilt, so now I know better.

Frank McGrath :

[Angus MacSpey]

The general rule is that the larger the company or project, the more strict the safety regulations (or safety B.S., depending on your point of view.)

I've seen earthmoving contractors that required hard hats INSIDE the cabs of scrapers. For those of you outside the business, Cat scraper cabs are strong enough to withstand another scraper being dropped on them without being crushed. Thus, this rule serves no purpose whatsoever. Most do require long pants, and when I was in that business, I didn't argue. It made sense. Some I worked for allowed shorts and never issued hard hats. Same exact kind of work.

As far as your situation is concerned, I have a hard time believing loose wiring is a problem when a job is in the plumbing phase, since electricians usually follow the plumbers. Wearing pants rather than a kilt is unlikely to protect you from loose wiring anyhow.

But, in this litigious age, you would be well served to check with OSHA and the G.C. Should anything ever happen to you, regardless if kilts are to blame, the G.C.'s insurance company may deny claims. That's what insurance companies do - deny claims for any possible glimmer of reason or excuse. I can't blame a contractor for wanting to cover his behind.

[Cawdorian]

OSHA's fine structure is based on the number of people a company employs, if a company has a large number of employees, the fine for a violation will be greater.

[Chris Webb]

I work in Residential Construction, occassionally in Commercial Construction. I wear a kilt everyday.

I've been in construction for 14 years and have never heard of OSHA giving grief to anyone in Residential construction over what they wear. As someone else has already said, OSHA normally focuses their attention on larger works sites where heavy equipment is used, deep ditches are being dug, etc. OSHA is concerned about jobsite safety and is not likely to care what you are wearing other than what common sense dictates.

Wearing a kilt every day does have drawbacks that I live with. Sometimes I wear underwear just to add a bit of protection to my pieces parts. 2 weeks ago I got into Poison Ivy and was cursing my kilt for over a week, if you know what I mean. I haven't gone Regimental on the job sense.

My advice is this: Don't let anybody stop you from wearing your kilt ... use your own best judgement for when not to. OSHA regulations have a 'spirit' about them, so if you are keeping within the 'spirit' of their safety regs chances are you'll be just fine.

Of course, you're on your own if you get a ticket. LOL!!

Chris Webb

[Jerry]

In the chemical plant where I worked, we had a lot of regulations covering everything from beards to acceptable clothing. But most of those only applied to contractors if they were actually out in the plant, not those who just came to the store room or warehouse. However, I'm sure a trucker who was loading ammonium Sulfate would have been required to stay in his truck were he to wear a kilt into the plant. The amount of time spent in operating areas also had some effect on the rules. As an instrument mechanic who spent a lot of time out in areas with large rotating machinery and hazardous chemicals, I could have never worn a kilt at work. But women who worked in some of the office buildinds were allowed to wear open toed shoes, and skirts or dresses even though they had to pass very close to operating areas with very hazardous materials, because they were only passing through, and were in those areas for a very limited time. The only thing about a wool kilt which would have been acceptable would be the wool. Man made fibers (even though we were a manufacturer of raw materials to make nylon) were not allowed. Most of these were plant rules and like some have said, went further than OSHA does. One of the dumbest things that ever happened to me was a moustache check. One of the top dogs in the maintanance department went around with a pocket ruler and a hand drawn picturechecking the length of moustaches against it. I was told to trim mine even though I had just passed a respirator fit test with no problems. We all filed a group grievance, and at the third stage, the head of maintance and the plant manager got involved. A few who did have trouble passing fit tests had to trim a bit, but the idiot had to apologize to everyone for the ruler thing. So, even with stringent rules, enforcement can go too far.