The summer construction season means workers and safety managers must be prepared for heat stress, falls, puncture and crushing injuries, and noise exposures.

Fifth Stand-Down on Preventing Construction Falls Set for May 7-11

"The Stand-Down is not limited only to construction industry trades," Dean McKenzie, director of OSHA's Directorate of Construction, and Christine M. Branche, Ph.D., FACE, principal associate director of NIOSH and director of its Office of Construction Safety and Health, said in an email. "Each year, large corporations and small companies have joined us to make this effort a success."

The fifth annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction is taking place during the week of May 7-11, with OSHA, NIOSH, and CPWR urging employers to take part. This is the seventh year of the National Construction Fall Prevention Campaign, and the two federal agencies are asking employers to set aside time to have open discussions about fall prevention.

Falls are still a leading cause of deaths in construction. During 2016, there were 370 fatalities related to falls out of 991 total fatalities in U.S. construction.

The agencies reported that during the past four years, thousands of companies participated in the National Safety Stand-Down, reaching some 7.5 million employees across the United States and internationally through more than 130 public events and thousands of private stand-downs per year. The focus for employers should be to:

  • PLAN ahead to get the job done safely;
  • PROVIDE the right equipment; and
  • TRAIN everyone to use the equipment safely

"The Stand-Down is not limited only to construction industry trades," Dean McKenzie, director of OSHA's Directorate of Construction, and Christine M. Branche, Ph.D., FACE, principal associate director of NIOSH and director of its Office of Construction Safety and Health, said in an email. "In fact, due to valuable information gathered from your participation in previous National Stand-Downs, we have found that many stakeholders within the construction industry as well as general industry and governmental entities join us in this event each year. Each year, large corporations and small companies have joined us to make this effort a success. If your employees work at height or are exposed to falls, you have a vested interest in standing down your operations to emphasize fall protection or other safety-related topics.

OSHA's information is located at http://www.osha.gov/StopFallsStandDown and on the Campaign webpage, http://www.osha.gov/stopfalls/index.html. NIOSH's information is available at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/construction/stopfalls.html. CPWR's information is available at http://stopconstructionfalls.com.

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