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Your construction site will generate a lot of waste. Renting the right dumpster for your site and disposing of construction debris in it will help you avoid penalties and fines from OSHA or state inspectors, and will keep your workers safer.
By Sean Foley

Safety must be a priority for anyone on a construction site, but especially for construction superintendents and project managers. Construction sites can be dangerous places, but there are ways to address certain potential hazards to make construction sites safer.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issues and enforces laws and regulations for construction safety pursuant to the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970. Construction teams that follow OSHA regulations and standards are taking the positive steps they need to keep their crews and visitors to the site safe.

One of the best ways to keep a site safe and meet OSHA requirements is to provide your team with dumpsters for the proper disposal of construction waste. Dumpsters not only help you meet OSHA’s Section 5, which requires that employers provide a workplace free of recognized hazards that could cause harm or death, but they also help you keep your jobsite organized and looking professional.

OSHA States Versus Non-OSHA States
When OSHA passed in 1970, it became the federal standard-bearer for health and safety regulations on job sites throughout the country. However, since that time, 27 states have adopted state plans that are more stringent than what OSHA requires.

However, states cannot simply just write plans and have them accepted. OSHA must put each state plan through the Federal Annual Monitoring Evaluation (FAME) process to ensure it operates at least as effectively as OSHA.
California has the most stringent state plan—partially because of the state’s propensity for earthquakes—followed by New York, which adopted its plan to be more responsive to local needs.

So, depending on where you are building, you may be subject to OSHA or a tougher state plan. Because of this, your dumpster needs to be able to meet the requirements of federal OSHA regulations or your state plan.

Managing a Site with a Rental Dumpster
Anyone who has ever worked on a construction site knows that it can be littered with everything from nails to broken drywall and concrete blocks. There are dozens of items that could cause a fall or that could fall on you. If you regularly remove this debris, you can keep hazards to a minimum and provide a safe workplace for your employees. Rental dumpsters help you::

• Dispose of waste: A designated dumpster provides employees with a proper place to dispose of construction debris.
• Improve visibility: A clean site improves your ability to see any other potential hazards, which also improves worker safety.
• Reduce litter: A clean and organized construction site not only minimizes danger, but it also creates a more positive working environment. When employees do not have to look through debris to find tools and other equipment, making them more productive.
• Handle hazardous materials: While there are more stringent rules for handling truly hazardous materials like asbestos, a rental dumpster can help keep a site free of debris that is counterproductive to a safe working environment.
• Train new employees: Having a rental dumpster onsite allows you to train new employees on the proper way to meet OSHA or state plan requirements.

In addition to broken blocks, nails, and other debris, you must be cognizant of your entire work area. Loose drywall can be picked up by the wind and hit workers or others who happen to be near the worksite.

Consequences
The most valuable assets that construction companies have are their jobsite employees; therefore, every construction company wants to keep their workers safe. However, good intentions do not equal compliance with OSHA or state plan requirements.

If you fail to follow OSHA or state plan requirements, an inspector can levy fines against you from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And you never know when these inspectors might show up.

If your violation is egregious enough, an inspector can even shut your site down while you remedy the problem. This can result in other hidden penalties. Many construction contracts require work to be done on certain dates, or the construction company must pay the client an agreed upon amount for every day they are late. A shutdown can also mean that your construction company must pay employees for days they are not working.

Things can get even worse if you are on a construction site that is not properly disposing of building materials, which can lead to contamination. If contaminants like concrete wash get into the water table, it can make the water alkaline, which is harmful to humans and aquatic life. This can cost thousands of dollars to clean up and could even trigger the EPA to act. Construction companies can also face lawsuits from communities that have to find other ways to access clean water while their water supply is decontaminated.

Choosing the Right Dumpster
Providing dumpsters on a construction site for the proper disposal of construction debris is a good way to make sure you are compliant with OSHA or state plan requirements regarding the maintenance of a safe jobsite and proper disposal of construction debris.

When you partner with a dumpster rental company, you want to find a partner who is reputable, responsive, and keeps their dumpsters well-maintained. They should also be able to help you determine the right size for your construction site and offer regular pickup so you can keep the site free from debris during the duration of construction.

You can also kill two birds with one stone by choosing to partner with a dumpster rental company that also provides portable toilets. OSHA provision 1926.51 requires that construction sites provide one toilet for every 20 employees. If you have more than 20 workers onsite, you need at least one toilet and one urinal or two toilets to meet regulations.

Your construction site will generate a lot of waste. Renting the right dumpster for your site and disposing of construction debris in it will help you avoid penalties and fines from OSHA or state inspectors, and will keep your workers safer. | WA

Sean Foley has served as the redbox+ Dumpsters’ Brand President since the beginning of 2024, but had worked with the company as Director of Operations and Regional Business Coach for nearly two years before being appointed to the company’s top role. Prior to entering into the world of franchising, Foley worked as an attorney where he built a career handling commercial and construction litigation, contracts, and financial law.

redbox+ Dumpsters is the only waste management company in the U.S. that offers a 20- or 30-yard dumpster with two portable toilets attached called the Elite. This allows construction contractors to streamline the efficiency of their jobsite and meet two OSHA requirements in one rental. The Elite also keeps workers on the jobsite instead of driving to offsite restroom facilities. For more information, visit.

Resources
www.osha.com/blog/state-plans