Construction Industry Safety and Health

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Falls remain a leading cause of unintentional injury mortality nationwide, and 43% of fatal falls in the last decade have involved a ladder. Among workers, approximately 20% of fall injuries involve ladders. Among construction workers, an estimated 81% of fall injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments (EDs) involve a ladder.

Factors contributing to falls from ladders include haste, sudden movement, lack of attention, the condition of the ladder (worn or damaged), the user's age or physical condition, or both, and the user's footwear.

A Union City, New Jersey contractor allowed dangerous hazards that led to worker's fatal fall, according to OSHA investigators, who issued the company multiple citations in the wake of the accident.

The Construction Employers of America asked the Chairs of the Democratic National Convention’s Platform Committee and Republican National Convention’s Platform Committee to include in their parties’ official platforms strong policies that acknowledges the vital role that highly skilled union building trade shops play in creating and maintaining the country’s infrastructure, supporting small business, and strengthening the middle class.

Salvatore Schirripa, a Bensonhurst, N.Y., construction company owner, has been indicted on manslaughter and other charges following the April 2015 death of Vidal Sanchez-Ramon, his employee at a Coney Island work site. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

After its latest OSHA inspection, a Florida contractor has increased the health and safety violations it’s been cited for to 23, and the fines it faces to more than $66K.

A New York City general contractor was found guilty Friday of manslaughter in the trench-collapse death of a worker last year.

Federal workplace safety and health inspectors have cited a Steuben County rail manufacturing and repair service facility for 17 serious violations, including exposing employees to unsafe levels of known cancer-causing chemicals such as cadmium, lead, nickel and silica.