OSHA has partnered with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) - Construction Sector on this nationwide outreach campaign to raise awareness among workers and employers about common fall hazards in construction, and how falls from ladders, scaffolds and roofs can be prevented and lives can be saved. Here's how:

Working at heights carries risk. About five American construction workers are killed every week by falls from heights, 251 of them in 2011 alone. New data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) show you don’t have to fall very far for the fall to be deadly.

This true tragedy is taken from the files of NIOSH’s Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program: A 17-year-old female laborer fell about 26 feet from a residential roof to a stone patio. Nine days later she died from her injuries. The victim was working for a construction company replacing a residential roof. (How common is this work? You and friends may have done this yourself.)

Heat is a frequently underestimated occupational hazard of the construction industry, according to Pete Stafford, Executive Director of the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).

OSHA will co-moderate a free webinar with the American Staffing Association at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, July 18, to discuss best practices for protecting temporary workers.

On May 28, 2013, OSHA cited Massachusetts contractor Twin Pines Construction Inc. for alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards at its Durham, NH, work site. The wood framing contractor, based in Everett, Mass., faces a total of $290,700 in proposed fines following an inspection by OSHA's Concord Area Office.

On June 3, 2013, OSHA cited South River, NJ-based Mr. Concrete Corp. with four repeat and five serious safety violations, including scaffold and fall hazards, found at a Maywood, NJ, work site. OSHA's February inspection was initiated in response to imminent fall hazards observed by an OSHA compliance officer.

Last May, 28-year-old Adrien Zamora fell 40 feet from a scaffold while restoring an 11-story building in New York. It was his first day on the job, and he had not been given a fall protection harness or the necessary safety training. He left behind a wife and their two young daughters.

OSHA has cited Witt Plumbing Inc. for five safety violations, including two willful, after a worker died from injuries received when a trench collapsed at a job site in Hastings, Jan. 16. The worker was locating a sewage drain pipe at a home under construction when the unprotected trench collapsed.

Building and construction workers use ladders every day. Yet, like any piece of equipment that’s not properly maintained, used, and respected, they can let you down. Whenever you reach for a ladder, your first step should always be to think about which ladder is right for the job.