A 45-year-old untrained driver died June 10, 2014 while completing surface-supplied air diving during underwater construction activities for the City of Weston, Florida.

A new live-action Crane Safety Video and extensively revised Crane Safety Manual from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) provide machine operators with a look at current industry best practices, including U.S. OSHA 1926:1400 crane standard requirements.

Four employees of Affordable Exteriors Inc. were routinely exposed to dangerous fall hazards while completing a residential roofing job for homebuilder Hildy Homes in Elkhorn. OSHA has cited Affordable Exteriors for two willful violations, carrying proposed penalties of $140,000, for failure to provide required fall protection and fall protection training.

A Washington University at St. Louis research team supported by Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has created an online inventory of fall protection devices suitable for use in residential construction.

Two new OSHA fact sheets – "Tube and Coupler Scaffold Planning and Design" (PDF*) and "Tube and Coupler Scaffold Erection and Use" (PDF*) – are now available to help employers protect construction workers using this type of scaffold on the job.

Construction has long been considered America's most dangerous industry. In fact, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration was created to address lagging safety standards within the construction sector.

Bricklayers were exposed to fall hazards as high as 30 feet above the ground while creating the exterior finish of new single-family dwellings at two work sites in Philadelphia, according to workplace safety and health citations issued against Vyacheslav Leshko, doing business as T and S Masonry LLC.

Residential framing and siding contractor Southern Wood Works LLC has been cited by OSHA for five safety violations following an August 2014 inspection at a residence in Watersound. Citations were issued to the Freeport, Fla.-based company for failing to provide employees with fall protection equipment and exposure to falls from heights of up to 17 feet.

Bosco Custom Homes Inc. has again been cited for failure to provide fall protection to workers on three separate residential framing projects. OSHA has cited the company for 30 violations, including three willful, 20 serious and seven repeat safety violations. Proposed penalties total $174,240.