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Construction is one of the most important industries in the U.S., employing nearly 10.4 million people at more than 250,000 construction sites on any given day. Employment in construction is expected to increase by 11.4% through 2014.
Unfortunately, hundreds of employees are injured-and hundreds more die-in construction accidents each year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry accounted for about 1 of 5 fatal work injuries recorded in 2005.
OSHA is committed to driving down these numbers. That goal has prompted the agency to launch major initiatives highlighting construction hazards and possible safety solutions.
Many construction accidents involve trenching. In 2002, OSHA established a task force to study trenching fatalities. The group developed an OSHA bilingual trench safety QuickCard, a poster and a NIOSH training CD-ROM offering tips on how to reduce the risk of injury or death in trench work. As a result, analysis of federal program trench fatality inspections shows a decline from 58 in 2003 to 49 in 2005.
Two incidents for which citations were issued in 2006 are of interest. In the first incident, Bengal Enterprises was cited for exposing workers to trenching hazards at an Atlanta construction site. The agency proposed penalties totaling $41,300.
"Safe trenching practices reduce worker injuries and deaths," says Andre Richards, OSHA's Atlanta-West area director. "Preventing these needless accidents is one of the goals of this agency."
To further this goal, OSHA, Metro Atlanta fire departments, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Utility Contractors Association and the Hispanic Contractors Association of Georgia formed the SAFE (Safety Awareness Facilitation Education) alliance, which provides safe trenching educational and outreach services for companies engaged in trenching operations.
Richards explained that one of the SAFE alliance members advised Bengal of trenching hazards at a site where it was installing sewer lines. When the company failed to take corrective action, OSHA was notified.
Following an inspection on Jan. 31, 2006, OSHA issued one willful citation with a proposed penalty of $35,000 for allowing employees to work in a 10-ft deep trench without proper cave-in protection. OSHA issues a willful citation when an employer has shown intentional disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the OSH Act and regulations.
OSHA issued one repeat citation with a proposed penalty of $3,500 for failing to provide employees with a safe means of entering and exiting the trench. The company had been cited previously for a substantially similar condition and that citation has become a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Bengal also received two serious citations with penalties totaling $2,800 for failing to ensure that employees wore hard hats and for failing to use retaining devices or to keep excavated material and equipment at least 2 ft from the edge of trench walls.
The Suwanee-based company has 15 working days to contest the latest citations and proposed penalties before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's Atlanta-West area office.
In the second incident, OSHA cited Mid-South Builders for allegedly exposing workers to trenching hazards. The agency proposed a $40,000 fine. "This company was cited in March and August 2002 and again in March 2004 for exposing employees to trenching hazards. Unsafe conditions were observed this year in April at the Smyrna site," says Andre Richards, OSHA's Atlanta-West area director.
Richards says that an OSHA inspector met with a company representative at the site and discussed safe trenching and excavation practices. Several days later, the inspector returned and found two employees working in the unsafe excavation where a concrete vault was to be installed.
The company received one willful citation with a $40,000 proposed penalty for allowing employees to work in a 6 ft deep trench without proper cave-in protection, such as proper sloping or shoring of the vertical walls or the use of a trench box.
The Lithonia, GA, company has 15 working days to contest the latest citation and proposed penalty before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site also was inspected by staff from OSHA's Atlanta-West area office.
Work Zone Safety Highway work is another concern. Employees are exposed to vehicles or moving equipment while working on or near roadways. OSHA formed an alliance with industry and labor organizations to provide access to resources to prevent exposure to roadway work zone safety and health hazards. Products stemming from the partnership include a multilingual roadway safety CD-ROM and an OSHA fact sheet and bilingual QuickCard. OSHA's alliance program enables organizations that are committed to safety and health to work with the agency on preventing injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace.
Both OSHA and industry share a concern over the number of fall fatalities experienced in the construction industry annually. This year, the agency created a Residential Fall Safety Initiative that will involve a significant outreach effort to develop materials for distribution on safe work practices.
OSHA also recently unveiled a new Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) initiative aimed at meeting the construction industry's unique needs and characteristics. Mobile Workforce VPP Demonstration for Construction joins VPP Corporate Pilot and OSHA Challenge Pilot as the newest component of OSHA's premier cooperative program that recognizes the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have designed exemplary occupational safety and health management programs. The initiative offers the mobile construction workforce and short-term projects with the same opportunity for acknowledgement that fixed site employers receive.
Visit OSHA's website at www.osha.gov for more resource information to help employers prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities among our nation's construction employees.