From the Desk of Chris Trahan Cain, Executive Director |
|
|
CPWR Leads in Keeping Construction Workers Safe on Infrastructure Projects |
|
Construction worker safety and health must be at the heart of every project funded by the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. CPWR is urging its wide range of partners – including members of the building trades, contractors, and government officials – to join in ensuring all workers in our industry come home safely every day. To help the industry meet this vital goal, we are providing expertise, knowledge, and tools. They include a new safety briefing paper and a special section of cpwr.com that makes it easy to access our proven, free resources, such as:
- Tools to help plan for safe work, improve safety culture and climate, and comply with OSHA requirements
- Safety and health training programs and materials
- Information on best practices and solutions
- Research on persistent and emerging hazards
These materials address all three of the main categories of projects covered by the infrastructure bill: transportation; climate, energy, and the environment; and broadband. Let us know how CPWR can collaborate with you to improve safety on infrastructure projects, including by providing content for your newsletters, presentations from our experts, or other kinds of support.
Next Week: 3rd Annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Struck-by Incidents
This year’s Struck-by Stand-Down, organized by the NORA Construction Sector Council Struck-by Work Group, is increasing from one day to five to coordinate with National Work Zone Awareness Week. As the Stand-Down has grown, we’ve expanded its topics to include not only work zone safety but also lift zone safety, heavy equipment, dropped objects, and other sources of struck-by injuries. During the Stand-Down, CPWR and the Struck-by Work Group will host a series of webinars covering these topics:
|
|
TOOLS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH |
|
9th Annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction: May 2-6
The OSHA-NIOSH-CPWR Stand-Down to Prevent Falls will again take place during the first week of May. The Stand-Down is a week-long event organized by the National Campaign to Prevent Falls and the NORA Construction Sector Council to raise awareness around fall hazards and the importance of preventing them. Employers across the country are invited to pause work on their job sites to engage in inspecting fall protection equipment, conducting training, joining one of the Falls Campaign’s webinars, or any other Stand-Down activities that emphasize and improve fall safety. For more information about what this year holds, watch January’s Falls Campaign webinar on the importance of a year-round fall prevention program and check out CPWR’s One-Stop Stand-Down Shop to order resources materials, download Toolbox Talks, find social media messaging, and much more.
New SC-SMIS Strengthens Safety Culture
The Safety Climate-Safety Management Information System (SC-SMIS) is CPWR’s latest resource to help contractors and safety professionals improve job site safety culture and safety climate -- and therefore reduce the potential for injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Developed with extensive industry input, this robust new system builds on the resources we’ve created since 2016 that enable firms to measure and strengthen their safety climate. The SC-SMIS includes features that allow companies to measure job site safety climate across eight leading indicators with proven tools such as the S-CAT and the S-CATsc; download evidence-based safety management policies, procedures, guidelines, and templates from a large repository to improve low-scoring indicators; and develop a plan to help put those resources into action. Begin or continue your company’s safety climate improvement journey by visiting the SC-SMIS homepage and learn more by viewing February's webinar on the SC-SMIS.
WorkSAFE Podcast: Struck-By Incidents: Dodging the Impact of This Top Construction Risk
On this podcast hosted by Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance, hear Jessica Bunting, CPWR’s director of research to practice, and Brad Sant, senior vice president of safety and education at the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, break down how struck-by incidents happen, explain why employers should keep an eye on this major safety risk ways, and describe ways to reduce risk on work sites.
|
|
Intelligent Hearing Protection for Construction Workers Exposed to Hazardous Noise
Tuyen Le, Kehinde Elelu. CPWR Small Study, 2022.
This study aimed to increase auditory awareness of workers exposed to loud noise with a new hearing protection technology that uses artificial intelligence to both amplify safety-critical sounds and greatly attenuate ambient noise. Read the Key Finding and the full report.
Research Request: Take Part in a Study on Minimizing Painters’ Chemical Exposure
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell are looking for construction painters to participate in a study about minimizing exposure to hazardous Part B ingredients of reactive chemicals systems used in metal structure coatings. The researchers will be visiting workplaces to conduct field surveys, monitor airborne exposures and skin exposures, and collect biological samples to measure the effects of exposure and evaluate the efficacy of personal protective equipment and engineering controls. Participants will receive a $50 gift card for donating urine before and after the shift and an additional $50 for a blood sample. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more.
Share Your Exposure Measurements
If you have exposure measurements for silica, welding fumes, lead, or noise, CPWR needs your help!
The Exposure Control Database (ECD), a free online tool that estimates your workers’ exposure to common health hazards, is expanding. If you have data that you are willing to share, please submit it to CPWR to make the ECD more accurate and reliable. If you have any questions, contact Sara Brooks ([email protected], 301-495-8532) with any questions. The following sampling forms are available to submit measurements:
Small Study Grant Funding Available
Our Small Study Program, which supports promising new research initiatives on improving construction safety and health, has a particular interest in studies that plan to work with and/or target small employers. We define small employers as those with 19 employees or fewer. We are giving priority to funding studies aimed at:
- Reaching high-risk populations: small employers, vulnerable workers, residential and light commercial construction firms
- Developing applicable, practical interventions
- Engaging stakeholders, through partnerships and other means, to better understand the barriers to and motivators for adoption of best practices
- Addressing emerging issues and exploring new technologies
- Evaluating promising research translation products and dissemination strategies
- Disseminating good practices to small employers
|
|
ALSO: See above for the four webinars that are part of the 3rd Annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Struck-by Incidents
Jueves 7 de abril a las 2:00 p.m. a 3:00 p.m. ET
OSHA-NIOSH-CPWR Evento de la Campaña Nacional de Prevención de Caídas: Uso adecuado de los sistemas personales de protección contra caídas
Las caídas son la principal causa de muerte relacionada con el trabajo en la construcción, pero no tiene por qué ser así. Todas las caídas se pueden prevenir. Inscríbase en el seminario web de la Campaña nacional de prevención de caídas para aprender cómo organizar o asistir a eventos enfocados en la prevención y obtener capacitación en el uso adecuado de los sistemas personales de protección contra caídas.
La capacitación incluirá consejos sobre:
- el tamaño del arnés, la selección del anclaje y el amarre
- las medidas que se debe tomar si un trabajador queda suspendido con el sistema personal de protección contra caídas activado
Bienvenida: Michael J. Rivera, Administrador Regional, Región III de OSHA
Panelistas:
- Jose H. Herrera, Especialista en la Seguridad y Salud Laboral, Dirección de Construcción de OSHA
- Daniel Ramir, Director Ejecutivo, Centro de Seguridad para Trabajadores Latinos, Latino Worker Safety Center (LWSC)
- José Orlando Fernández Avilés, Gerente de Seguridad, Lord Construction Group, Inc./Instructor, Atlantic OSHA Training Center, Universidad Ana G. Méndez en Bayamón, P.R.
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET (1 hr 30 min)
Fall Protection Expert Q&A Panel (Part 3)
This event, taking place during the 9th annual Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, continues an ongoing series of Fall Protection Expert Q&A Panels with members of the ASSP/ANSI Z359 Committee. Recordings are available from previous panels on March 4, 2020 and April 20, 2021. In this third webinar, our panelists will review information on how to utilize the Z359 fall protection standards, including the recently updated SRL requirements, and will directly answer your questions about fall safety on construction job sites. While there will be an opportunity to submit questions live, we will focus on those we get in advance first and encourage you to submit a question when registering at the link below.
Moderator: Chris Trahan Cain, CIH, Executive Director, CPWR
Panelists:
- Thom Kramer, PE, CSP, Principal, LJB Inc., and Chair of the ANSI/ASSP Z359 Full Committee
- Dan Henn, VP of Operations, Reliance Fall Protection, and Vice-Chair of the ANSI/ASSP Z359 Full Committee & Chair of the Z359.14 Subcommittee
- Adam Rubin, CSP, Vice President, Safety at Buckeye Partners, L.P., and Vice-Chair of the ANSI/ASSP Z359.14 Subcommittee
- Mike Dickerson, Safety Consultant, American Contractors Insurance Group, and Member of ANSI/ASSP Z359 Full Committee
CPWR’s webinar platform limits registration to 1,000 people. If you do not think you'll be able to attend live, please watch the recording of the webinar – all our webinars are available on-demand within a few days of their presentation.
|
|
April 11, virtual -- The University of Texas at Arlington OSHA Training Institute Education Center: Free Struck-by Symposium
10:00-10:50 a.m. CT: Fatal and non-fatal struck-by incidents, work practices/barriers for prevention, tools and resources
- Grace Barlet, Research Analyst, CPWR
- Amber Trueblood, Director, Data Center, CPWR
- Samantha Brown, Research Analyst, CPWR
|
|
Registration is open for the XXXIst International Symposium of the ISSA Construction Section, taking place June 8-10 in Berlin. The program will cover topics such as Presentations will cover aspects like training and awareness building, accident prevention, occupational health, digitalization and innovation. Learn more about the conference, including how to register, on the ISSA-C website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
