Firefighters’ deaths lead to a lawsuit against a construction company; nurses get the recognition they deserve and new studies show what we’ve known all along: staying active can help you live longer.

A pair of trending topics will be on the agenda at tomorrow’s meeting of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) Workgroups. The Emerging and Current Issues workgroup will meet from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST to discuss opioids and suicides in construction.

OSHA has cited CLF Construction Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. for exposing employees to fall hazards after a CLF suffered fatal injuries in a fall at a worksite in Media, Pennsylvania. OSHA proposed $170,560 in penalties for Philadelphia-based subcontractor CLF Construction, and $74,217 for Horsham, Pennsylvania-based general contractor Toll Brothers.

The families of two Pennsylvania firefighters who were killed when a building under construction collapsed have filed a lawsuit against the construction company and the owner of the building, according to news reports. York City firefighters Ivan Flanscha, 50, and Zach Anthony, 29, died on March 22, 2018, when a partial building collapse caused them to fall from the second floor and be buried under debris.

OSHA has cited Jaime Martinez Hernandez – a residential framing contractor based in Phenix City, Alabama – for exposing employees to fall and struck-by hazards at two Alabama worksites. The contractor faces $240,880 in penalties. The agency conducted the inspections in conjunction with the agency’s Regional Emphasis Program for Falls in Construction after investigators observed employees working from heights without fall protection at worksites in Auburn and Opelika.

OSHA has cited DB Custom Carpentry LLC – based in Aurora, Illinois – for exposing employees to falls. The homebuilder faces penalties of $333,968 for three willful and one repeat safety violations. In August 2019, OSHA inspectors observed two employees sheeting a residential roof without adequate fall protection in Naperville, Illinois. The agency also cited the company for failing to train employees on fall protection, and to provide and ensure that employees wore safety glasses and hard hats.

Criminal charges for a crane operator in a co-worker’s jobsite death, legislation to prevent workplace violence in the health care industry and the costs of obesity among the workforce were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Fatalities caused by falls from elevation continue to be a leading cause of death for construction employees, accounting for 320 of the 1,008 construction fatalities recorded in 2018 (BLS data). Those deaths were preventable. The National Safety Stand-Down is an effort to raise fall hazard awareness across the country and prevent fall fatalities and injuries.