Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1991

Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) to establish in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (the Office) to ensure safe and healthy working conditions in the performance of construction work.

Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to: (1) investigate, where appropriate, any fatality, serious bodily injury, or incident at a construction worksite; (2) require the project constructor of the construction project involved to prevent destruction of any evidence which would assist in investigating the cause of such a fatality, injury, or incident; (3) develop training courses and curriculum for the training of OSHA inspectors and other OSHA employees with construction safety-related duties; (4) advise and consult with construction employer associations, construction employers, construction employees, and labor organizations as to effective means of preventing fatalities and serious injuries in construction work; (5) identify construction employers who have high frequency rates of fatalities or serious injuries or patterns of noncompliance with health and safety standards; and (6) carry out specified duties for construction worksite inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping and for construction safety and health plans and programs.

Directs the Secretary, or an authorized representative, to take appropriate action to protect the life of any individual if a fatality, serious bodily injury, or incident occurs on a construction worksite where rescue and recovery work is necessary.

Establishes within OSHA the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction who is to: (1) coordinate Office activities with those of other offices and directorates within OSHA as they relate to safety, health, and education in the construction industry; and (2) coordinate the activities and advice of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health with all OSHA activities relating to such matters, ensuring that the Advisory Committee performs its functions under the Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

Directs the Secretary, with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, to determine the necessary qualifications and training for OSHA inspectors, including: (1) full understanding of the Act and the Secretary's standards and regulations for the construction industry; and (2) at least five years' experience working in the construction industry, in the case of safety inspectors.

Establishes requirements for construction safety and health plans and programs. Directs the Secretary to require, by regulation, a written construction safety and health plan, including certain safety and health programs, for each construction project to protect employees against hazards which may occur there. (The following minimum requirements must be included in such regulations.)

Requires each construction project to have a project constructor (constructor), and a project safety coordinator (safety coordinator) appointed by the constructor.

Requires the safety coordinator to: (1) prepare and implement the plan; and (2) ensure that the construction employers (employers) at each worksite of the project have a safety and health program which complies with the plan and requirements under this Act.

Requires the constructor to conduct inspections: (1) regularly at the worksite for violations of the plan, the safety and health programs, the Act, or specified standards or regulations under the Act; (2) upon request of any construction employer, employee, or employee representative, to determine if an imminent danger exists at the worksite requiring immediate work stoppage or removal of affected employees; and (3) of each fatality, serious bodily injury, or incident that occurs on the project. Requires for each project methods and procedures for analyzing and eliminating hazards which may exist on a construction project.

Requires each project to have a construction process plan: (1) applying to each worksite; (2) based on size of the employer, types of work at each worksite, and safety and health records of employers; and (3) including references to critical conditions in the process, identification of methods to insure structural stability, a list of all required tests and inspections.

Requires construction employers to obtain a permit from the project constructor before engaging in an operation on a construction project determined by the Secretary to pose a risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Requires each construction employer on a construction worksite to have a written safety and health program applicable to such worksite. Requires such program to include: (1) scheduled safety and health meetings at least once during the first week and once a month thereafter, and a meeting, before they begin work, with any employees who are new or engaging in an unfamiliar activity; (2) emergency evacuation plans; (3) annual training for all supervisory personnel and all employees engaged in construction work; and (4) annual submission of each construction employer's OSHA 200 log to the Secretary. Requires each construction employer to: (1) appoint a competent person to be responsible for administering the safety and health program and to stop work on the worksite or a portion of it if there is an imminent danger; and (2) ensure that a competent person is on the construction worksite at all times that work is being performed by such employer.

Exempts from such regulations for construction safety and health plans and programs any construction project if it has only one employer, and that employer has less than 11 employees on the project, but not if such project is determined to pose a risk of death or serious bodily injury because it includes: (1) construction of certain trenches and excavations; (2) erection and dismantling of scaffolding; (3) demolition of any building or structure; (4) operation of cranes and derricks; (5) operations requiring employees to enter confined or enclosed spaces; (6) operations involving exposure to asbestos and other toxic materials; and (7) other operations designated by the Secretary. Provides for emergency waivers in cases where construction work must be performed immediately to prevent injury to persons, but requires notice to the Secretary and compliance with such requirements as soon as practicable.

Requires the Secretary to issue proposed regulations for such construction safety and health plans and programs within 120 days after enactment of this Act, a final regulations within one year after such enactment.

Provides for inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping.

Requires project constructors to submit, before construction work commences, specified types of information necessary for the Secretary to develop and conduct a system of prioritized inspections.

Directs the Secretary to establish an effective system for construction worksite inspections. Requires such system to give priority to concentration of enforcement resources on construction worksites and operations with a high potential for fatalities or serious injuries, giving due weight to: (1) employers' and owners' worksite compliance records; and (2) frequency and severity rates of fatalities, serious injuries, and incidents attributable to particular owners and employers and particular types of construction projects, worksites, and operations. Applies such inspection priority system to general schedule inspections only. Prohibits the Secretary from excluding from construction worksite inspections any construction owner or employer.

Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees within six months of the enactment of this Act on the availability and effectiveness of using State workers compensation data to improve targeting of construction inspections.

Requires project constructors to make and maintain accurate records concerning fatalities, serious injuries, and incidents at a worksite.

Requires project constructors to report to the Secretary, within four hours after its occurrence, any incident involving construction work that results in: (1) a hospitalization of two or more employees; (2) a fatality; or (3) a structural failure which did result or could have resulted in a fatality or serious bodily injury. Requires such reports to specify certain information. Directs the Secretary to conduct site inspections to investigate all reports of fatalities or incidents involving the hospitalization of two or more employees. Requires such inspections as soon as practicable or at least within 24 hours after receipt of the report, unless site conditions would make inspection dangerous. Directs the Secretary to make public a narrative description of the occurrence.

Requires the project constructor, at project completion or at one-year intervals during the project, to report to the Secretary all fatalities and serious injuries and all structural failures. Requires such report to provide specified information.

Reconstitutes the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (the Committee) as an advisory committee to the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services within OSHA. Grants the Committee specified powers to carry out its functions under the Act, in addition to its functions under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA). Limits the terms of members of the Committee. Directs the Secretary to respond in writing within 60 days to any recommendation made by a majority of Committee members.

Requires any State construction safety and health plan to comply with specified requirements for State plans under the Act and to provide for development and enforcement of requirements at least as effective as those imposed by the Act and CWHSSA.

Provides, for specified enforcement purposes, that a project constructor shall be considered an employer.

Directs the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress: (1) annually on certain general subjects as these relate to the construction industry, including the operation of the Office; and (2) within 120 days after three years of Office operation, on whether specified relevant information supports the continued existence of the Office within OSHA or supports enactment of legislation to establish in the Department of Labor a Construction Industry Safety and Health Administration to be headed by an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction Safety and Health.

Establishes a Construction Safety and Health Academy within OSHA, to be responsible for safety and health training of: (1) OSHA employees who inspect construction worksites; (2) construction employers and employees; and (3) other persons considered by the Secretary, with the Committee's advice. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative educational and training agreements with educational institutions, State governments, local organizations, and construction industry employers. Requires the Secretary to ensure that employees and employee representatives have access to such Academy training services.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) review regulations describing criteria for awarding Federal construction contracts subject to specified provisions of CWHSSA; and (2) within 90 days after enactment of this Act, recommend to specified congressional committees legislative changes required to make safety records of contract bidders a criterion in making such awards.

Declares that nothing in this Act lessens, or limits application of requirements of the Act, the CWHSSA, or any accompanying standards or regulations. States that the presence of a project constructor does diminish construction employers' responsibilities under the Act.

Provides for vacating a citation for an alleged violation of a construction safety or health regulation under the Act if the employer: (1) proves provision of required training and equipment; (2) has established work rules to prevent such a violation; (3) has adequately communicated those rules to employees; (4) has taken reasonable steps to discover such violations; and (5) has effectively enforced such regulations when violations have been discovered.