This month is National Ladder Safety Month, but ladder safety is a year-round priority at NIOSH where scientists study how to prevent ladder-related falls. In a new study published in the journal Applied Ergonomics, a “walk-through” ladder was comparable in safety to regular ladders tested in the NIOSH Virtual Reality Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Five people were injured in a construction accident in Yonkers, New York City this winter.
Authorities say a Bobcat machine fell through the roof of the National Wholesale Liquidators store on Central Park Avenue, with the Yonkers Fire Department calling it a "major roof collapse."
"We just looked up, and the whole roof was collapsing on top of the people," customer Alejandro Tellez said.
Fatalities caused by falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction employees, accounting for 350 of the 937 construction fatalities recorded in 2015 (BLS data). Those deaths were preventable. The National Fall Prevention Stand-Down raises fall hazard awareness across the country in an effort to stop fall fatalities and injuries. This year the Stand-Down is May 8-12.
A Massachusetts company will develop a safety and health plan that will serve as a benchmark for subcontractors working on a new Science Center at Amherst College, under a strategic partnership signed with OSHA.
The April death of a construction worker killed by a falling beam has led OSHA to fine the worker’s employer and to issue multiple health and safety citations. According to OSHA, the company overstressed the beam during a demolition project, resulting in the beam’s failure.
The California Highway Patrol is looking into the inspection history of the dump truck that backed over and killed a construction employee and pinned his co-worker on Highway 17 near Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County, a tragedy that has devastated their employer, one of California’s oldest and largest construction companies.
Not long ago, a cable installer in Texas was climbing a ladder to work on some overhead lines. To waterproof the cable splices, he and his colleague used a silicone-based product, which left residue on the gloves, and the ladder rungs. As the worker descended the ladder, he slipped on the slick rungs and fell more than 13 feet, hitting the concrete below headfirst – a fatal injury.
Unions, open-shop builders and developers are expected to clash as New York City’s Housing and Buildings Committee of the City Council will hear 21 bills related to construction safety.
The bills would increase penalties for certain violations, require site-safety plans at buildings four stories and higher and—most controversially—mandate worker training programs.
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