The Maine School of Masonry in Avon is partnering with the state Department of Labor’s Workplace Safety and Health Division and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve worker safety in the masonry industry.
The two-year initiative will educate employers, workers and students about how to recognize and prevent workplace hazards in the masonry trades, including reducing and preventing exposure to silica, according to a news release. The partners will also help inform workers of their rights and employers’ responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The partnership was formed through the OSHA Alliance Program, which promotes safe and secure workplaces and to enhance worker voice in the workplaces. OSHA joins with groups committed to worker safety and health, including unions, trade or professional organizations, businesses, and educational institutions, to leverage resources for creating safe and healthy workplaces.
Maine School of Masonry is the only private nonprofit masonry school in the country, according to its website.
Founded in 2005 by masonry contractor and instructor Stephen D. Mitchell, the school has taught hundreds of students the fundamentals of laying brick and stone work through nine months of instruction. The school’s one-year mason apprentice certificate program is designed to help students gain professional skills in the brick, block and stone masonry fields.
The school offers additional courses in historic restoration and preservation. Mitchell and his students have worked on restoration and preservation projects at the Kennebec Arsenal, Fort Knox, the Old Wiscasset Jail, Stevens Commons in Hallowell and Rangeley’s Historical Society.
Mitchell learned masonry at Northern Maine Vocational Technical Institute in Presque Isle, where he graduated in 1973.