An NBC-17 investigation that found state and local governments don’t consider a contractor’s safety records in the public bid process is triggering a national call for change.
“We realized we had a big problem here in North Carolina we wanted to address. … Unfortunately it is typical, not just in North Carolina (but) all around the country,” said Tom O’Connor, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a network of non-profit worker safety advocates.
O’Connor says a national campaign is in the works to promote laws at the state, city and local levels including requiring contractors meet strict safety requirements in order to bid on a project.
“If you have a good safety program, a reasonable competitive bid, we give (the contract) to you and not to the ‘fly by night’ contractor that cuts corners and puts workers lives at risk,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor points to Triangle Grading and Paving as an example. The company employed two men who suffocated last spring inside a Durham manhole. NBC-17’s investigation revealed the company had more than 60 construction-related safety violations and more than $200,000 in fines, including a previous worker fatality.
“…Clearly a company with a lot of problems and yet somehow they managed to score a 99 on the NC Department of Transportation’s screening review," O'Connor said. "To me that says there is something seriously wrong with that system.”
O’Connor said he wants to work with NCDOT to make their system for qualifying contractors to bid on state projects more strict.
Jon Nance, the chief engineer for the state Department of Transportation, said, “We are open to any suggestions from safety professionals like OSHA and other groups that will give us a good fair way to look at accident histories and look at safety records and how that might apply to awarding contracts.”
City of Durham spokeswoman Beverly Thompson told NBC-17 via e-mail:
“The city staff is still working on a recommendation for evaluating a company’s safety record before awarding contracts. Hopefully, that will be finalized within the next few weeks.”
When first questioned by NBC-17 several months ago, Triangle Grading and Paving stood by its safety record. NBC-17 reached out to company executives in an email to inquire if the company would back legislation to make safety a more important part of the bidding process. As of late Friday, NBC-17 had not received their response.
In late November, the North Carolina Department of Labor cited Triangle Grading and Paving for four alleged serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina, with a total penalty of $16,000.
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