According to the Associated Press, requirements for training will change for construction workers. Employees at construction sites will be required to have at least 10 hours of certified training from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, while supervisors will be required to have 30 hours. The new regulations will also require that construction workers and supervisors get further training every five years.
"Workers and supervisors must provide proof of training within 15 days of being hired or face suspension or firing," the AP report stated.
The legislation was passed in response to a number of accidents that occurred from January 2008 to June 2009. Those accidents led to the deaths of 12 workers at construction projects located on the Las Vegas Strip.
OSHA was created to help prevent such accidents through the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970. According to the most recent statistics from OSHA, there were 4.2 million occupational injuries and illnesses in the country in 2005.
