OSHA has cited framing contractor Navy Contractors, Inc. for willfully exposing employees to fall hazards at residential construction sites in Royersford, Collegeville, and Center Valley, Pennsylvania. The company faces $603,850 in penalties. The agency initiated inspections at the three jobsites after inspectors saw employees performing framing work without fall protection.

NIOSH uses robotic arms to test healthcare PPE, teen workers get safety info from OSHA and FairWarning sheds a light on the hazards faced by small farmers in the U.S. These were among the occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

A coalition of New York City labor organizations is holding a protest today about safety training inadequacies in the city, particularly for immigrant workers. The protest comes on the heels of a particularly deadly week in the city’s construction industry, which saw three immigrant workers killed in incidents at three different worksites.

On January 14, 2016, a 22-year-old male laborer/carpenter (victim) employed by a residential contractor was fatally injured after falling from a single family house under construction. While on the top plate of a studded exterior second story wall, the victim lost his balance and fell approximately 24 feet to the frozen ground below. The fall was not witnessed by any of the co-workers onsite, but the site foreman heard a noise and while trying to determine what the noise was he found the victim on the ground.

Myth 1: Residential contractors don’t get injured as badly as commercial construction workers. FACT: Half of all construction workers who have fallen to their death in Massachusetts worked in residential construction. A 30-year-old roofer was rolling tar paper on a new pitch roof of a 2-story Cape when he backed off the edge. He fell 24 feet to his death, and left behind a wife and children. Myth 2: You have to fall a long distance to kill yourself.

The 6th annual National Safety Stand-Down to prevent falls takes place the week of May 6-10, 2019. The Stand-Down was conceived by OSHA in 2014 as part of the National Falls Campaign to raise awareness surrounding the severity of fall hazards in construction and the importance of preventing them. In a construction setting, the term “safety stand-down” is used to describe a wide variety of activities where normal work is paused and the entire site focuses on a particular safety issue.

An Ohio-based construction company failed to ensure that workers used fall protection while doing roofing tasks, leading to a worker sustaining a serious injury, according to an OSHA inspection following the incident. The agency has cited Hiebert Bros Construction LLC for exposing employees to fall hazards after the worker was injured from a 26-foot fall at a construction worksite in Gainesville, Florida.

The Stand-Down was conceived by OSHA in 2014 as part of the National Falls Campaign to raise awareness surrounding the severity of fall hazards in construction and the importance of preventing them. It’s an opportunity for employers to pause work and have a conversation with workers about fall hazards, protective methods, and the company’s safety policies, goals and expectations.

The 6th annual National Safety Stand-Down to prevent falls takes place the week of May 6-10, 2019. The Stand-Down was conceived by OSHA in 2014 as part of the National Falls Campaign to raise awareness surrounding the severity of fall hazards in construction and the importance of preventing them. In a construction setting, the term “safety stand-down” is used to describe a wide variety of activities where normal work is paused and the entire site focuses on a particular safety issue.