Construction Industry Leaders Back Senate Bill S.2112 to Raise Site Safety Standards

Industry and labor witnesses told the committee they support Senate Bill S.2112, which they said would standardize safety training for craftworkers, expand site safety manager training and strengthen regulations and enforcement for high‑risk construction activities. Patrick Brophy, vice president of state and local government affairs for Suffolk Construction, said Massachusetts lags peer states on construction injury rates and that S.2112 would expand training, site requirements and oversight for demolition, structural steel, scaffolding and overhead protection. "This bill will establish and enhance regulations governing site safety and high risk demolition and structural steel scaffolding and formwork and overhead protection for publicly accessible areas and sidewalks," Brophy said. Mike Cattera (identified in testimony as a Northeast regional safety director for Suffolk) described the bill as a measure to make safety a daily culture and said the bill would require comprehensive safety programs by general contractors, stronger training for safety managers and penalties for noncompliance. Shaton Green, business agent with the Greater Boston Building Trades Unions, said the unions invest heavily in training and supported the bill to level standards statewide: "There is no paycheck that is worth the life and there is no deadline or bottom line that justifies putting workers in harm's way," he said. Discussion: committee members asked about training capacity; witnesses said training is provided by building trades training centers, third‑party providers and contractor programs. No committee vote or formal directive was recorded at the hearing. Why it matters: testimony framed S.2112 as an industry and labor initiative to reduce injuries and fatalities by raising training and enforcement standards across the Commonwealth.