The Importance Of Providing Spring Construction Safety
Springtime means more construction hours. Now that bad weather is out of sight for a bit, it’s time to make up for lost days. Many workers find themselves juggling the fact that construction projects may have gone past their completion date and unfinished work now needs completion. With the springtime scramble to make up for lost time, remember the importance of spring construction safety.
If a greater emphasis was put on worker safety, health, and quality of life, especially in demanding times such as these, the construction industry could begin to change for the better. Statistics show room for growth and improvement within the construction industry.
Consider these statistics:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction ranked No. 6 in amount of occupational injuries and illnesses by industry sector with almost 200,000 non-fatal injuries among workers in 2016.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows that an average of 14 worker fatalities occur each day.
The highest cited Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety violation is fall protection, leading to the largest cause of worksite deaths: falls, followed closely by struck by objects, electrocution, and caught in between, creating about 630 deaths altogether.
BLS states that 991 fatal work injuries occurred within construction, more than any other industry.
Spring construction safety
The National Association of Home Builders is leading the way to bring safety to the forefront of each day with the Safety 365 campaign. The Safety 365 campaign aims to provide information and resources to help keep construction workers safe and eliminate preventable accidents, injuries, and deaths, according to NAHB. Each month NAHB will highlight a different aspect of construction workplace safety. In order to keep safety in the front of your mind and company, keep up to date with NAHB’s monthly safety topics as well as support construction safety each day.
To support construction safety efforts and help put a greater emphasis on worker safety, NAHB invites you to host a free four-hour fall prevention training session at your home builders association. Invite your builder members, trade contractors, supervisors, and workers to attend this free session. Safety in the front of your mind and before all actions will lead to a better understanding of OSHA standards and requirements.
Safety for the uninsured
Many construction workers, especially in a time of high need such as the spring, are contract workers. These employees work on a short-term basis, or until the job is done. Contract workers make up about 48 percent of the construction industry and are, many times, insufficient in job site experience due to their brief periods of work.
Providing a free training session is a great opportunity for workers with little experience to gain knowledge and better prepare for jobs on the worksite, especially when they lack insurance. Around half of workers in many construction occupations go without insurance coverage and 11 of the 20 professions with the highest rates of uninsured workers are in construction.
Did you know that nearly a third of nonfatal occupational injuries happen within the first year on the job?
Training and safety knowledge can help eliminate first-year accidents, injuries, and fatalities by better preparing new construction workers for their positions. Finish off this spring by putting a greater emphasis on worker safety, health, and quality of life in order to provide spring construction safety.
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