OSHA says its Southeast regional offices will increase enforcement efforts aimed at reducing an upward trend in construction-related fall fatalities. Falls are one of the four leading causes of employee fatalities in the Southeast.
Workers who erect and maintain wind turbines can be exposed to fall hazards. Wind turbines vary in height, but can be more than 100 feet tall. Exposure to high winds may make work at high elevations even more hazardous. OSHA has different fall protection requirements for construction (installation of towers) and general industry (maintenance).
With a new state bill that raises the height for fall protection requirements, Arizona is pitting itself against the federal government – and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is urging OSHA to enforce federal fall hazard standards.
Concrete contractors cited with egregious willful violations
July 25, 2012
OSHA has cited four New Jersey contractors working on a 20-story building in Jersey City for exposing workers to fall hazards following a December 2011 inspection during which inspectors observed employees working on the fourth floor without personal fall protection or fall protection systems.
Falls are one of the most common fatal events in the U.S. oil and gas extraction industry. The frequent need to work at elevations and the misuse or non-use of fall protection systems makes fall injuries a significant hazard, according to NIOSH.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis earlier this year announced a new campaign led by OSHA to prevent deadly falls in the construction industry. The awareness campaign will provide employers and workers with life-saving information and educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs. In 2010, more than 10,000 construction workers were injured as a result of falling while working from heights, and another 255 workers were killed.
With July winding down, the deadline for submitting abstracts for poster presentations for the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s (AIHA) Fall Conference is just ahead, on August 1.
Falls from heights are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, but these deaths are preventable, and OSHA is working to educate workers and employers about Preventing Falls in Construction.