Construction Rises to the Top Spot in Labor Statistics’ Deadliest Industries List

number and rate of occupational injuries, by industry sectorFatal work injuries in the private construction sector increased 5 percent to 775 in 2012, while total hours worked in the industry increased just one percent.

The 2012 increase in fatal occupational injuries follows five consecutive years of declining fatalities in construction. Fatal construction injuries are down 37 percent since 2006.

The reversal in construction’s worker-fatality trend is stark in light of the fact that the 2012 fatal-work-injury count for all U.S. employers is down 6.6 percent to the second-lowest total since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics first started conducting the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 1992

The rate of fatal work injury for all U.S. workers in 2012 was 3.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, down from a rate of 3.5 per 100,000 in 2011. There were 9.5 U.S. construction-worker deaths in 2012 per 100,000 full-time workers.

How much does a jobsite injury really cost?

I recently can across a very interesting tool to help you to realize how much does a jobsite injury cost you.  Employers can use the” $afety Pays” to assess the impact of occupational injuries and illnesses on their profitability. This program uses a company’s profit margin, the average costs of an injury or illness, and an indirect cost multiplier to project the amount of sales a company would need to generate to cover those costs. The program is intended as a tool to raise awareness of how occupational injuries and illnesses can impact a company’s profitability, not to provide a detailed analysis of a particular company’s occupational injury and illness costs. Your local OSHA On-site Consultation Office can help small businesses identify workplace hazards and develop and implement an effective injury and illness prevention program.  This tool is part of the OSHA Small Business program that provides links to numerous OSHA resources and information designed specifically for small business employers, including safety and health tools and publications, easy-to-follow guides for specific OSHA standards, and descriptions of benefits that small businesses receive from OSHA. The page also includes information on the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), which recognizes small business employers who operate exemplary injury and illness prevention programs.

Surviving an OSHA inspection.

Here is a link to an article that is very informative on how to deal with and survive an OSHA inspection.  It covers the four steps of an inspection.  The opening conference, the inspection, the closing conference and the citations.  It also states the importance of having a designated employee at the job site. They state that the odds of an OHSA inspection is less that 1% is is important to have a plan.

OSHA Guide to Scaffold Use in Construction

OSHA’s Safety Standards for Scaffolds publication.  This informational booklet is intended to provide a generic, non-exhaustive guide to scaffold use in construction. This publication does not itself alter or determine compliance responsibilities, which are set forth in OSHA standards themselves and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

OSHA also has a list of publications covering many other issues that effect business operations.  Most of these can be downloaded and used as handouts.  They are also offered in different languages.

They also offer links to online training for the OSHA 10 hr, 30 hr. construction courses and also the 10 hr. and 30 hr. general industry course.

Moreover, because interpretations and enforcement policy may change over time, for additional guidance on OSHA compliance requirements, the reader should consult current administrative interpretations and decisions by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and the courts.

Material contained in this publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced, fully or partially, without permission of the Federal Government. Source credit is requested but not required.

Battery Powered Scaffold

Granite Industries has developed a new product that is designed to help eliminate OSHA citations when using narrow rolling scaffold.   When working on narrow scaffold the wheels must be locked.  When employees are doing repetitive work, which require constant moving of the scaffold from one location to another,  employees tend to forget to lock the casters.  In some cases they move the scaffold while on it. Trades that do this can be painters, electricians, and ceiling installers.  Granite has developed a motorized narrow scaffold that will eliminate the issue of not locking the casters and also increase production by eliminating the need to get down off the scaffold to move it.  The product is called Power Snappy.  It is available in three sizes.  It is battery powered by two 12 volt sealed batteries, has a built in battery charger, all controlled by a joy stick while standing on the work platform.  It can transported easily, both to and around the job site and will fit on a standard elevator.