construction fatalities

Construction’s toll on workers

Investments are key to avoiding the “fatal four”

March 2, 2020

During a 45-year career, there is a one in 200 chance that a construction worker will die from a work-related incident. That’s a pretty scary statistic.

Wall collapse in NYC buries construction worker

September 17, 2018

A starkly worded tweet from the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) spelled out the fate of a construction worker buried under rubble last Wednesday: “The incident is transitioning from a rescue to a recovery.” The tweet came after first responders dug for three hours in heavy rain through a mixture of mud and concrete for hours in an effort to find the worker who disappeared when a retaining wall cracked and collapsed.

Explosion at Texas project kills one, injures 15

July 13, 2018

An explosion at a Gatesville, Texas, hospital addition project killed one construction worker, 43-year-old Michael Bruggman, and injured 15 others, according to KWTX. Ten of those injured at Coryell Memorial Healthcare System were in critical condition at one point.

Welding and Construction Industry Safety

Protect welders from burns, heat, UV rays & electricity

Matt Burtney

April 1, 2018

Even with the proper precautions like flashback arrestors, exhaust hoods for fumes and gases, or fire extinguishers, welding carries a lot of risk. Needless to say, a good pair of gloves are as important to a welder as a welding hood – or at least they should be.

Wall collapse kills construction worker in New York state

February 12, 2018

The collapse of an unapproved retaining wall in Poughkeepsie, New York killed one worker and injured another – and resulted in more than a quarter of a million dollars in fines for a construction company. In the wake of the August 2017 incident, OSHA cited Onekey LLC, for exposing employees to crushing hazards, for failing to train employees to keep a safe distance from the wall and soil pile, and for failing to provide proper fall protection.

One fall can be traumatizing- and costly

10,000 construction workers sustain fall injuries annually

Kris Manning

November 8, 2017

Fall prevention and protection is a primary focus of construction industry safety programs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the number one cause of construction-worker fatalities, accounting for one-third of on-the-job injury deaths in the industry.

Op-Ed piece

Southern construction study shows deficiency in labor conditions

Dennis Donahou

September 1, 2017

Construction activity in the southern United States is booming. In Texas and Tennessee alone, construction now generates more dollars annually than it did before the Great Recession. In Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, construction spending is rapidly approaching pre-recession levels.

Woman killed in construction accident

February 22, 2017

A 19-year-old female construction worker was killed last month in a work-related accident in west Bexar County, Texas. A sheriff's deputy at the scene said that a backhoe operator didn't know the victim was at the bottom of a 15-foot hole when he dropped the digger into the hole, killing her.

Foreman gets prison time in worker’s death

December 19, 2016

The foreman of a New York City construction company was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison last week after a state Supreme Court jury convicted him in the death of an employee, 22-year-old Carols Moncayo.

Traumatic workplace deaths up last year

December 19, 2016

The number of deaths due to workplace trauma last year was the highest recorded since 2008, according to data released late last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics culled from its 2015 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).