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Falls Account for Most Construction Fatalities
Courtesy of NAHB and Nation’s Building News
The Nation Association of Home Builders (NAHB) commissioned a research firm to determine the frequency, rates, and causes of fatal injuries in the U.S. residential construction industry. This study is the most comprehensive analysis of fatalities occurring in the home building industry to date. It uses data from both NAHB’s initial fatality study and OSHA-investigated deaths. It is important to note, that in both reports falls were the leading cause of death, the highest proportion of fatalities occurred in businesses with 10 employees or fewer, and happened to workers employed less than a year. The following excerpt is from the study titled “Residential Construction Fatalities 2003-2006.”
From 2003-2006 there were 4,777 work-related fatalities in the construction industry: 3,232 nonresidential, 1,385 residential and 160 multifamily.
Key findings include:
- The average residential construction fatality rate was 8.35 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees, approximately 2.2 times the rate for all of private industry in the U.S. The fatality rate in all of construction was 11.59 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees.
- Falls were the most common cause of home building fatalities (45%). Workers most often fell from roofs, ladders, and scaffolding.
- Workers were most often installing, constructing, or assembling items, such as siding, roofing, decking, walls, windows, and scaffolding, painting, climbing or descending a ladder, or repairing at the time of the fall.
- 482 of the home building fatalities occurred in residential construction and 903 were in residential specialty trades.
- The most common industries in which workers were fatally injured were single-family housing construction, roofing contractors and residential remodelers.
- More than three-quarters of fatalities occurred in businesses with ten or fewer employees.
- Workers employed for less than one year accounted for 47% of the deaths (see graphic).
- The occupations with the most fatalities were construction laborers, carpenters, roofers, and first-line supervisors or managers of construction trades.
- 63% of the workers were Caucasian, 28% were Hispanic, 7% were African American, and 1% Asian.
- Approximately 29% of the workers were foreign-born.
- Workers aged 45 years or older accounted for more than half of fatalities from falls.
You can access the full study at http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?genericContentID=88793
Make Your Jobsite Safer
Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, often referred to as the General Duty Clause, requires employers to “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” More employers are providing safety gear and training for their workers, but too many miss the opportunity to make jobsites safer.
You can access a wealth of information including FREE eTools at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/construction.html
Links include information specifically related to construction, scaffolding, and steel erection.
Several years ago, OSHA and NAHB teamed up to create the “NAHB-OSHA Jobsite Safety Handbook.” It’s available in English or in an English-Spanish edition ($11 member rate), with the complete English and Spanish text side-by-side to make communication easier and help you easily convey important safety information to all of your employees. You can order multiple copies from NAHB’s Builder Books, or you can download a PDF from OSHA’s web site at http://www.osha.gov/doc/jobsite/index.html.
Provide copies for all of your employees and your subs. Periodically hold ten minute tailgate talks just about safety – especially when you’re ready to start activities where people are working four or more feet above the ground. According to OSHA, fall protection must be provided at four feet in general industry, five feet in maritime and six feet in construction. However, regardless of the fall distance, fall protection must be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery.
Product Advisory
From the Wisconsin Retail Lumber Association. “APA, the trade association for engineered wood products, has issued a product advisory warning about scaffolding planks from China. APA tests suggest these planks are 20% to 30% weaker than their labeled ratings claim. While most of the planks are believed to be in South Central and Southwestern states, all dealers need to beware. Read more at http://www.apawood.org/level_d.cfm?story=2812.
