The U.S. Department of Labor Aug. 20 reported that construction fatalities in 2008 fell 20 percent from the previous year to 969, resulting in a preliminary fatality rate of 9.6 per 100,000 workers, down from 10.8 in 2007. The final report will be released in April 2010.
Voluntary employer workplace safety initiatives, as well as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) programs and training, are likely the reason for the decline in construction fatalities, according to Craig A. Shaffer, CSP, chairman of ABC’s Environment, Health and Safety Committee and president of Safety Works, Inc., Dillsburg, Pa.
“These early numbers are supporting the case that self-directed integration of safety into their company’s culture is continuing to yield dividends for progressive contractors and their employees alike,” said Shaffer. “It is of utmost importance to ABC members that every employee return home safely to his or her family at the end of the day.”
To support safety on the job site, ABC offers the
Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) program to its members, which allows member contractors to regularly evaluate and strengthen their programs, yielding safety performance that is consistently better than the industry average. When compared with national construction averages, ABC members that participate in STEP have fatality rates that are 58 percent lower, OSHA injury rates that are 30 percent lower, and 90 percent fewer OSHA citations.
ABC members that are interested in improving their safety programs can attend ABC’s Sept. 16 webinar,
“The 5 Key Components of an Effective Safety Program.” ABC also offers its members safety classes through its
chapters and annual
Construction Education Conference, a meeting for construction craft professionals and managers, with the purpose of providing a safe and healthy workplace. Topics include fall protection safety, steel erection safety, electrical safety, scaffolding safety, trenching and excavation safety, OSHA's 10-hour and 30-hour construction outreach, and a 100-hour Construction Site Safety Technician program. Construction safety documents are also available to members for use as a template on which to build their own custom workplace safety programs, policies and procedures.
To read the preliminary fatality report, click
here.
To sign for the safety webinar, click
here.