The Transportation category in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes construction projects that fall into seven sub-categories: Roads, Bridges and Major Projects; Passenger and Freight Rail; Public Transportation; Airports and Federal Aviation Administration Facilities; Ports and Waterways; Safety; and Electric Vehicles, Buses and Ferries. Examples of the types of construction projects in this category and sub-categories include: repairing and building roads and bridges; bringing Amtrak-served stations into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; rehabilitating or constructing bus-related facilities; replacing or making capital improvements to airport terminals and other facilities, and reconstructing, repairing or improving airport-owned contract airport traffic control towers; constructing or making improvements to Coast Guard childcare development centers and housing; replacing obsolete natural gas pipelines; and building a network of electric vehicle chargers.
The following resources are intended to help employers engaged in construction projects covered by this IIJA funding category quickly find information and materials they can use to keep their construction workforce safe and healthy. These resources are divided into the following sections:
Planning
Safety Climate and Safety Culture Tools — Online tools to measure safety climate based on eight leading indicators and resources to improve low scoring indicators and strengthen a company’s safety culture and climate.
Work Safely with Silica – Planning Tool — An online planning (Create-A-Plan) tool to help employers comply with the planning requirements in OSHA’s silica standards (CFR 1926.1153 and 1910.1053).
Exposure Control Database — An interactive tool helping the industry predict workers’ exposure to four hazards: silica, welding fumes, noise and lead.
Best Built Plans – Manual Materials Handling — Practical tools and information to plan for safe materials handling at each project stage starting with the bid and reinforce workers’ awareness and use of safe practices. Also available in Spanish.
Written Fall Protection & Rescue Plan — A generic plan that can be printed and filled in with details for a company’s job site(s). Also available in Spanish.
Small Contractor Fall Prevention Planning Resources — A package of resources for small construction employers to help them plan to prevent falls, provide the right tools and equipment for the job, and train employees to prevent falls. Also available in Spanish.
COVID-19 Exposure Control Planning Tool — An online planning tool to help employers create a plan to protect their employees and prevent the spread of COVID-19 on job sites.
Training and Education
Training and Awareness Programs from Research and Training
- Foundations for Safety Leadership — A 2.5-hour training program that teaches foremen and other lead workers skills they can use to be effective job site safety leaders. Also available in Spanish, it can be presented as a stand-alone training or as an elective in the OSHA 30-hour course.
- Work Safely with Silica – Training & Other Resources — Training programs and materials to help employers educate their employees on silica hazards and prevention and comply with training-related provisions in OSHA’s silica standards (CFR 1926.1153 and 1910.1053).
- Best Built Plans – Ergonomics Training Program for Workers — Reviews the causes and ways to prevent injuries associated with manually lifting and moving materials (soft tissue injuries – strains and sprains).
- Best Built Plans – Ergonomics Training Program for Contractors – Reviews the causes of soft tissue injuries, prevention, and how to create an ergonomics program to reduce soft tissue injuries among a company’s employees.
- Safety Voice for Ergonomics — Developed to teach apprentices in the masonry industry about ergonomic risks and related problem-solving skills.
- Construction Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention Training Program — Modules and exercises to identify hazardous noise and prevent over-exposures. Also available in Spanish.
- Opioids Awareness Training Program — Discusses addiction risks, prevention and help available.
- Choose Hand Safety — Training and interactive tools to raise awareness of risks and how to select hand tools and gloves to prevent hand injuries and illnesses.
- Head Protection: Preventing Head Injuries — Explains the importance of using head protection, what to consider when selecting head protection, and safe practices.
- Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation Awareness Program for the Construction Industry — Developed to raise contractor and worker awareness of the potential risk, how to identify the hazard, and steps to work safely.
- Hazard Communication Training — This course satisfies the general training requirements of OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard 29 CFR 1910.1200.
Training Programs Available to Labor-Management Apprenticeship and Training Programs
In partnership with NABTU affiliates and the contractors who employ their members, CPWR has developed a series of safety and health training programs for use in union labor-management apprenticeship and training programs. For example:
- Confined Space Training — This 16-hour worker course covers the most common confined space hazards and the OSHA standard, including topics such as monitoring principles, PPE, and ventilation.
- Smart Mark — This interactive program meets and exceeds the requirements of the OSHA Construction 10- and 30-hour programs. It covers 20 topics.
Toolbox Talks Series — Brief hazard-specific discussion sheets to use on job sites during morning check-ins or other safety meetings to raise workers’ awareness of hazards they may encounter on the job and steps being taken to mitigate the risk. Examples of the more than 70 Toolbox Talks, which are available in English and Spanish, include:
- Preventing incidents on road work conducted during night shifts — English and Spanish
- Lead hazards when removing old paint with abrasives — English and Spanish
- Arc welding and electrical safety — English and Spanish
- Exposure to biohazards — English and Spanish
- Lockout/tagout risks and prevention when working with electrically powered equipment — English and Spanish
Hazard Alert Cards — Short, image-driven materials that describe a specific safety or health hazard and protective measures. These can be used as handouts on job sites or included in training and educational programs. Examples of the more than 30 Hazard Alert Cards, which are available in English and Spanish, include:
- Working in trenches — English and Spanish
- Isocyanates in construction products such as paints and spray foam insulation — English and Spanish
Videos — A series of videos on safety and health topics that can be viewed on their own or included in training and education programs. Many are also available in Spanish, and topics include:
- Drilling methods during road and bridge work to prevent overexposure to silica dust and noise — English and Spanish
- Safe ladder practices — English and Spanish
- Trenching hazards and prevention — English and Spanish
Best Practices and Solutions
Construction Solutions — An online database of information on hazards, and practical control measures that can be used to reduce or eliminate those hazards. The database includes a broad array of solutions for different types of work. Examples include:
- Crash cushions
- Movable longitudinal barriers
- Object detection and camera system for heavy equipment
- Rumble strips
- Longitudinal barriers
- Truck-mounted attenuators
- Use of temporary traffic control devices
- Automated flagging assistant devices
- Illumination ring for hard hats
- Self-adjusting and directional backup alarms
- Work zone lighting
- Use of high-visibility safety apparel
Field Guide for Controlling Silica Dust Exposure on Asphalt Pavement Milling Machines — Guidelines and the dust controls available on half-lane and larger asphalt pavement milling machines to reduce silica exposures and comply with OSHA’s silica standard.
Stop Construction Falls — A one-stop source of information on the National Campaign to Prevent Falls, including materials to use with workers and on job sites to raise awareness of risks and prevention.
Preventing Struck-By Hazards — Programs and resources to improve work zone safety in road work and prevent struck-by incidents on all types of projects, including being struck by flying, falling, swinging, or rolling objects.
Working in Cold Weather — Resources to raise awareness and prevent health problems, such as hypothermia and frostbite, caused by working in a cold environment.
Working in Hot Weather — Resources to raise awareness and prevent health problems, such as heat stroke, caused by working in a hot environment.
Nail Gun Safety — Information on preventing injuries when using a nail gun, including information on the risks and related training materials and research.
eLCOSH Nano — An inventory of products that may contain nanoparticles to help employers and workers better consider the benefits and risks. This site also includes new information and access to related resources.
Mast Climbers — Resources on the safe use of mast climbing scaffolds including a tool for daily inspections, training materials, and regulatory information.
COVID-19 Construction Clearinghouse — Contains guidance documents, research, job site practices, and training materials to help prevent the spread of the disease.
Infographics — Using data from CPWR research and other trusted sources, these infographics raise awareness of occupational hazards and solutions. Available in English and Spanish, topics include:
- Contractors: Work Zone Safety Starts with Your Internal Traffic Control Plan – English and Spanish
- Operators! 4 Steps for Work Zone Safety – English and Spanish
- Stay Alert In Work Zones! – English and Spanish
- Trench Safety — English and Spanish
- Heat Safety — English and Spanish
- Winter Safety — English and Spanish
Research
CPWR Research Projects identify evidence-based technologies and work practices to address known and emerging hazards and ways to put findings into practice to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses.
Current Research
- Evaluation of Trunk and Arm Support Exoskeletons for Construction
- Manufactured Nanomaterials in Construction: Evaluating Exposures, Controls and Worker Training
- Reactive Chemical Systems: Part B – Developing Data-Driven Interventions. Part B includes chemicals in solvent blends, hardeners or catalysts, engineered nanomaterials and other additives, crystalline silica, and flame retardants
Completed Research
- Test Bench for Evaluating Concrete Drilling Methods
- Partnering to Prevent Exposure to Silica, Dust and Noise in Construction and Demolition [bridges, roads, and building demolition]
- Highway and Bridge Construction Drilling
- Adoption of Innovations to Minimize Exposures to Dusts and Fumes in Construction
- Assessment and Prevention of Isocyanate Exposures [spray-foam insulation] in the Construction Industry
- Worker Electrical Inspection Pilot Intervention
- Evaluating Interventions for Overhead Drilling
- Masonry Ergonomics Best Practices – Two-Person Lift Teams
Small Studies
The Small Study Program provides seed money of up to $30,000 to investigate promising new research initiatives. Examples of relevant projects include:
- Reducing Highway Construction Fatalities Through Improved Adoption of Safety Technologies
- Improving Work Zone Safety Utilizing a New Mobile Proximity Sensing Technology
- Using Unmanned Aerial Systems for Automated Fall Hazard Monitoring in High-rise Construction Projects
- Applying Prevention through Design (PtD) to Solar Systems in Small Buildings
- Prevention through Design for Safety in Solar Installations
- Identification and Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) Risk for Concrete Formwork Systems
- Aluminet: An Intervention for Heat-related Illness among Construction Workers