From the Desk of Chris Trahan Cain, Executive Director |
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Nominate a Safety Innovation for the 2023 Liberty Mutual Award |
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Nominations are now open for the 2023 Liberty Mutual Safety Innovation Award in Construction, which recognizes innovative approaches for reducing or eliminating hazards that lead to injuries and disease for workers in the industry. This intervention can be an evidence-based technology, work practice, program, or grass-roots campaign/media engagement focused on reaching smaller contractors or other underserved segments of the construction workforce. Sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance in partnership with CPWR, the award—now in its fourth year—includes a $15,000 prize for the winning individual or organization; one or more honorable mentions may also be awarded. Learn more about the process and past recipients on the CPWR website. The submission deadline is January 31, 2023.
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TOOLS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH |
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New White Paper from Workshop on Combating Suicide and Overdose Fatalities
CPWR has just published a white paper capturing key points from a two-day workshop we hosted late this summer addressing the high rates of suicide and overdose deaths in the construction industry. The workshop’s 50 participants -- who came from contractors, labor organizations, government, and universities -- examined current programs and divided themselves into four thematic area work groups that will continue to meet and develop roadmaps for action on research, practice, and policy.
Latest Podcast on Suicide Prevention Now Available in Spanish
Men in construction are dying from suicide at roughly twice the rate of workers in all industries. Episode 10 of CPWR’s Construction Safety and Health Podcast series, which explores the contributing factors, signs and symptoms, and actions that can be taken by individuals, companies, and communities to destigmatize the issue and help one another, is now available in Spanish. The original presentation took place as part of a CPWR webinar, Preventing Suicide in the Construction Industry, available to watch in full on demand.
SC-SMIS Strengthening Safety Culture
The Safety Climate-Safety Management Information System (SC-SMIS) helps contractors and safety professionals improve job site safety culture and safety climate -- and therefore reduce the potential for injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. The SC-SMIS enables companies to measure job site safety climate across eight leading indicators through two proven tools, the S-CAT and the S-CATsc; improve low-scoring indicators by examining evidence-based safety management policies, procedures, guidelines, and templates from a large repository; and develop a plan to put those resources into action.
Updated Data for Two Dashboards
CPWR’s Data Center has updated the data in two more of its 22 highly interactive Data Dashboards: Construction Establishments by Payroll Status and Hispanic Employment. New dashboards and updates to existing dashboards are posted regularly and, as always, the underlying data can be downloaded in a spreadsheet for additional analysis.
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Safety challenges of UAV integration in the construction industry: Focusing on workers at height Idris Jeelani and Masoud Gheisari. CPWR Small Study, 2022. Read the Key Finding and the full report.
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
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 chemical systems used in metal structure coatings. The researchers will be visiting workplaces to conduct field surveys, monitor airborne 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, please contact Sara Brooks ([email protected], 301-495-8532) with any questions. The following sampling forms are available to submit measurements:
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CPWR's webinar series will resume in January. Until then, view past webinars -- including recent ones on distance learning, electrical hazards, and suicide prevention -- for free on demand. |
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CPWR has openings for two positions:
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