Construction Industry Safety and Health

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The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) has revealed plans for a major research effort to explore how nanotechnology is transforming our industry, and what implications this holds for worker safety. 

Greensboro, NC city employees and contractors may have been exposed to asbestos while working toward the demolition of War Memorial Auditorium, according to a recent report in the region’s newspaper, The News & Record.

While renovating an Evanston, Ill. Middle school, workers from six separate companies were exposed to asbestos, lead and electrical hazards, according to OSHA, which inspected the site after receiving a complaint. Staff and students were on summer break during the July 2014 inspection..

REGION I: (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) - Local Emphasis Program for the Fish Processing Industry, Regional Emphasis Program for Fall Hazards.

A 16-year-old laborer who was told to stand in a danger zone died after being struck by the swinging cab and boom of a crane at a Delta, Missouri work site on June 18, 2014.

A 45-year-old untrained driver died June 10, 2014 while completing surface-supplied air diving during underwater construction activities for the City of Weston, Florida.

A new live-action Crane Safety Video and extensively revised Crane Safety Manual from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) provide machine operators with a look at current industry best practices, including U.S. OSHA 1926:1400 crane standard requirements.

Four employees of Affordable Exteriors Inc. were routinely exposed to dangerous fall hazards while completing a residential roofing job for homebuilder Hildy Homes in Elkhorn. OSHA has cited Affordable Exteriors for two willful violations, carrying proposed penalties of $140,000, for failure to provide required fall protection and fall protection training.

A Washington University at St. Louis research team supported by Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has created an online inventory of fall protection devices suitable for use in residential construction.

Two new OSHA fact sheets – "Tube and Coupler Scaffold Planning and Design" (PDF*) and "Tube and Coupler Scaffold Erection and Use" (PDF*) – are now available to help employers protect construction workers using this type of scaffold on the job.