A chance to get on-the-job training in construction turned tragic when a Delaware high school student suffered a severe head injury after a one-story fall off an unguarded balcony at a local construction site.

Workers doing renovation at the former Dye Works in Easthampton faced potentially fatal falls of up to 40 feet because their employers failed to provide proper protection, OSHA has found. Agency inspectors visited the work site on July 11, 2014, in response to a complaint about fall hazards there.

In an effort to help roofing contractors provide more on-the-job safety measures for their employees, the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) has partnered with Parsippany, N.J.-based GAF to launch the GAF Commercial Roof Safety Guide (www.gaf.com/safety), a website focusing on low-slope roofing safety.

A roofing worker in Piasa, Illinois fell 27 feet to his death on Aug. 4^th, 2014 because his employer, Mid-State Construction & Roofing Inc., failed to provide fall protection, according to OSHA.

Owners and general contractors currently have no standardized procedure for evaluating potential subcontractors on the basis of their ability to provide a safe work environment for workers. A Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) project scheduled to get underway in 2015 will develop and validate a new publicly available pre-qualification assessment tool for construction projects in order to select and promote safer contractors.

The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) has revealed plans for a major research effort to explore how nanotechnology is transforming our industry, and what implications this holds for worker safety. 

While renovating an Evanston, Ill. Middle school, workers from six separate companies were exposed to asbestos, lead and electrical hazards, according to OSHA, which inspected the site after receiving a complaint. Staff and students were on summer break during the July 2014 inspection..

REGION I: (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) - Local Emphasis Program for the Fish Processing Industry, Regional Emphasis Program for Fall Hazards.

A 16-year-old laborer who was told to stand in a danger zone died after being struck by the swinging cab and boom of a crane at a Delta, Missouri work site on June 18, 2014.