OSHA promotes workplace safety with partnership on B. Braun expansion

Butz is the construction firm on the expansion project, which affects a site operated by Bethlehem-based B. Braun Medical Inc. in Hanover Township, Lehigh County.

Butz voluntarily sought the partnership with the federal agency.

“It’s all about trying to reduce injuries, illnesses and fatalities on the job site,” said Jean Kulp, area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Upper Saucon Township. Representatives from Alvin H. Butz declined to comment.

OSHA also is collaborating on the project with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, as well as potentially any subcontractors who sign onto the voluntary partnership.

“OSHA reviews injury and illness records on site and performs non-enforcement inspections,” Kulp said. In addition, OSHA gets involved in presentations and gets employers talking about their programs and best practices for preventing injuries.

There is no cost for companies to collaborate on these voluntary partnerships and OSHA provides training materials, Kulp said.

Between May 6 and 10, OSHA will lead a national safety stand-down at the B. Braun site. It is a voluntary event where employers talk to employees about safety. Any workplace can hold a stand-down by taking a break to focus on fall hazards and reinforcing the importance of fall prevention, according to Kulp.

Representatives from B. Braun did not return requests for comment by press time.

The company’s expansion project includes construction of new manufacturing space on Marcon Boulevard, according to a project description from OSHA. The new space will include a two-story office building with a data center, a single-story pedestrian walkway to the existing manufacturing facility and a two-story injection mold room. The project also includes construction of a two-story extrusion facility, single-story component assembly room, a warehouse, a mold shop and a standalone maintenance building, as well as site improvements and utility work.

At peak construction, the project could employ about 400 workers. The partnership at the B. Braun site is not the first for Butz

The company partnered in 2012 with OSHA during the construction of the project that led to opening of the PPL Center in downtown Allentown.

OSHA’s Allentown area covers Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks and Montgomery counties, Kulp said.