The growing demand for wireless and broadcast communications over the past three decades has spurred a dramatic increase in communication tower construction and maintenance – one that exposes workers to specific hazards. In order to erect or maintain communication towers, employees regularly climb towers, using fixed ladders, support structures or step bolts, from 100 feet to heights in excess of 1000 or 2000 feet.

In order to provide the flexibility we need to offer our distributor partners more options and more competitive pricing in the United States, Dynamic Safety, USA is reorganizing to form Optimum Safety. We will continue to be the exclusive supplier of the Dynamic Safety brand of products in the USA, and now have the ability to provide other brands and more value-added price points, especially in the Eye & Face and Fall Protection product categories.

The increasingly competitive marketplace of products related to occupational safety and health offers up a continuing cornucopia of goods and services, emerging technology and ways to address emerging risks. How do you make your company’s products stand out from the rest of the pack?

Mist collection, fall protection and flame resistant gear were among the top occupational safety and health products featured this week:

Fall protection, skid-resistant boots and an air respirator for welding helmets were among the top occupational safety and health products featured on ISHN.com this week.

OSHA has cited Franklin County Construction LLC – based in New Haven, Missouri – after an employee suffered fatal fall injuries when a roof truss collapsed. The employee was part of a crew installing prefabricated roof trusses onto a commercial building under construction in Bowling Green, Missouri.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reported 54 fatalities in 2009 from scaffold staging. In a BLS study, 72 percent of workers injured in scaffold accidents said either the planking or support gave way, slipping, or being struck by a falling object. All can be controlled by compliance with OSHA standards.

Falls are the leading cause of death among private industry construction workers. This isn’t a surprise considering the duty to provide fall protection is traditionally the most frequently cited OSHA construction violation.

Factors contributing to falls from ladders include haste, sudden movement, lack of attention, the condition of the ladder (worn or damaged), the user's age or physical condition, or both, and the user's footwear.

Falls are the leading cause of death in construction. In 2016, there were 370 fatal falls to a lower level out of 991 construction fatalities (BLS data). These deaths are preventable.