Falls Top Construction Death Incidents

Falls Top Construction Death Incidents

A recently created database allowed researchers to determine that, in a 33-year period, falls accounted for nearly half of all construction worker deaths - and more than half of the workers killed lacked access to fall protection - according to the Center for Construction Research and Training (also known as CPWR).

Using data from the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program, the researchers found fatality reports for 768 construction industry fatalities and created a searchable database, the Construction FACE Database, of those reports.

After analyzing the incidents in the new database, researchers concluded that, between 1982 and 2015:
* 42% (325) of the fatalities involved falls
* 54% of the workers killed had no access to a personal fall arrest system, and 23% had access to a PFAS but did not use it
* Most of the workers with no access to PFAS worked for residential building contractors and contractors in the roofing, siding and sheet metal sectors
* 107 of the 325 falls were from 30 feet or higher
* 20% of the 768 deaths occurred in the victims’ first two months on the job.
"Even though this study was unable to assess effectiveness of the OSHA fall protection standard established in 1995, the considerable number of fall fatalities from lower heights provides strong evidence of the need for the OSHA requirement that fall protection be provided at elevations of 6 feet or more in the construction industry," researchers said.
In the study abstract, the researchers say the database allowed them to analyze FACE reports "quantitatively and efficiently," adding "comprehensive research using FACE reports may improve understanding of work-related fatalities and provide much-needed information on injury prevention."

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Continued Dangers for Construction Workers Revealed in New Report
A new report released by a state workplace safety watchdog highlights the deadly risks construction workers face in New York.

The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) released its latest construction fatality report, "Deadly Skyline: An Annual Report on Construction Fatalities in New York State." The report found increases in New York State construction fatalities stating that "employers routinely violate legal regulations with impunity."
The organization’s members include workers, unions, community-based organizations, workers’ rights activists, and health and safety professionals.
The report’s key findings:
* In 2016, New York State had a 60% higher construction fatality rate than New York City. Over the past five years, the New York City fatal occupational injury rate in construction decreased by 21.3%, while the New York State rate increased by 29.5% over the same period of time.
* Non-union job sites are especially dangerous for workers. NYCOSH analyzed OSHA’s 36 investigated construction fatality citations in 2016 and found that in New York State, 94.7% of workers who died on private work sites were non-union. In New York City, 93.8% of construction workers who died on private work sites in 2016 were non-union.
* Falls continue to be the top cause of construction fatalities in New York State and New York City. In all of New York State in the past ten years, 218 workers died in falls, which accounted for 48% of all construction fatalities. In New York City alone, over the past ten years, 101 workers died due to falls, which on average accounted for 46% of all construction deaths.
* Enforcement agencies are drastically underfunded. NYCOSH conducted an in-depth analyses of OSHA inspections in New York State since OSHA’s founding and found a staggering decrease in inspections over the past twenty years.
* OSHA construction fines for fatality cases remain low. Average OSHA fines in construction fatality cases decreased by 7%, to $20,217.

The report, published in part by a grant provided by the New York State Department of Labor, offered a number of recommendations to improve worker safety in the state:
* Require construction training and certification for New York State’s construction workers. Municipalities and New York State need to create rigorous training requirements for construction workers.
* Establish funding streams for construction safety training programs in New York City. As the requirements for construction safety training increase, so should the funding to provide such training, especially to ensure that low-wage immigrant workers have the opportunity to access them.
* Preserve the Scaffold Safety Law. Given that fall-fatalities are the top cause of death on construction sites, this legislation must be defended in order to prevent such deaths.
* Pass Carlos’ Law to ensure corporate responsibility for worker fatalities.
* Expand criminal prosecutions statewide.
* Use existing city power to suspend or revoke licenses and construction permits for criminal contractors.

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