Construction Industry Safety and Health

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OSHA is investigating the death last week of an Illinois construction worker who died after being struck by a 70-pound falling beam at a worksite.

The Big Apple’s crane regulations trump OSHA’s, according to a recent ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which upheld a lower court ruling.

It isn’t often that the results of one’s safety efforts in the workplace are easily measured, but in the case of Jeremy Bethancourt, that measurement is 11. And counting. Since the Arizona businessman began developing and implementing strengthened fall procedures at Scottsdale, Arizona-based LeBlanc Building Co. in 2006, 11 construction workers employed by LeBlanc have had falls arrested, saving them from likely serious injury or death.

Two short, dramatic worker safety videos presenting the hazard of fatal falls on the job are now available online. Produced by the California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program, with support from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the videos illustrate true stories about the death of a worker who fell through a skylight and a solar installer who fell off a roof.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released data last week showing that the final count of fatal work injuries in the U.S. in 2011 was 4,693 -- the third lowest annual total since the fatal injury census was first conducted in 1992.

Just in time for the spring and summer construction season, OSHA has produced a new bilingual English-Spanish booklet, "Falling off Ladders Can Kill: Use Them Safely."

OSHA has cited roofing contractor KG Framing and Construction LLC with 12 safety violations, including one willful and three repeat, for failing to provide roofers with protection from falls at a commercial shopping site in Maryland Heights.

The Center for Construction Research and Training has released the fifth edition of The Construction Chart Book: The U.S. Construction Industry and Its Workers. The 142-page book presents the most complete data available on all facets of the U.S. construction industry: economic, demographic, employment/income, education/training, and safety and health issues.

Thirty-eight percent of highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

Workers at many Georgia construction sites are participating in a safety stand-down that started today and runs through April 19^th – which also happens to be National Highway Work Zone Awareness Week.