How do you comply with OSHA and local codes and standards for foundation and framing work?

Building codes are adopted and enforced by the local building jurisdiction having authority (JHA). That is typically a local level jurisdiction, but there may also be county and state codes in place. The purpose of the Building Code is to enforce designs that ensure the life safety of the future occupants of the completed structure. OSHA is a federal agency in the U.S. that enforces the OSH Act, a federal law that requires employers to maintain a safe and healthy workplace for all employees. The OSHA regulations are enforced by either the Federal Agency, or in the case of 26 states, OSHA has elected to defer enforcement to a state agency. The OSHA regulations are meant to keep people safe during the construction of a facility.

In the world of OSHA, many people believe if you are not a commercial contractor you do need to follow these rules. In fact yes you do and are very responsible for following all the safety rules and regulations, companies can and will be cited if caught. Many companies do not understand and do not follow reporting and recording regulations. This has been at the forefront of issues that OSHA has been dealing with and is in process of going after contractors that are failing to follow these rules.

Specifically, OSHA regulations require the employer to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. In this case that is referring to the job site. If you employ people, you must understand and adhere to the OSHA regulations. In construction there is also an OSHA policy referred to as the multi employer workplace, which broadly means that the general contractor must make sure the trade contractors are not creating hazardous conditions for each other.

Again, local building codes have absolutely nothing to do with OSHA regulations, and in practice you almost never see a local building code official enforce the OSHA regulations in any way. They will not typically even call OSHA if they see a problem (which in my opinion is at least a moral deficiency, and should be a crime of negligence). Building codes are enforced through plan checks to ensure the building meets the code requirements, and then compliance is through periodic inspections by building inspectors who are comparing the actual construction to the design plans.

With proper training and understanding of what needs to be done, you can not only be compliant but be safe and stop injuries from happening. Training is much cheaper then OSHA violation or an accident or injury on the job site.

Culture starts from the top down and when we evaluate we need to show up with out warning and see if they are doing what is necessary and make sure they are doing what you tell them to do.