We know from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that nearly 6.5 million people work at approximately 252,000 construction sites across the U.S. The fatal injury rate for the construction industry is higher than the national average for all other industries. To help prevent job site injuries and fatalities, OSHA offers facts and solutions for the top construction hazards on their website, and Strong Man has a few solutions of our own.
- Facts: According to OSHA, scaffolds are the number one hazard leading to injuries and fatalities in the construction industry. Protecting the near 2.3 million scaffold workers from scaffold-related accidents could prevent an estimated 4,500 injuries and 50 fatalities each year.
- OSHA’s solutions:
- Make sure the scaffold can carry its own weight plus four times the maximum intended load without settling or displacement. The scaffold must be equipped with guardrails, midrails and toeboards, and you should never use boxes, barrels, loose bricks or any unstable objects to support the scaffolds or planks.
- Do not erect, move, dismantle or alter a scaffold without supervision of a competent person. A competent person must inspect the scaffolding at designated intervals, and any accessories such as braces, brackets, trusses, screw legs or ladders that are damaged or weakened must be repaired or replaced immediately.
- Strong Man’s solution:
- Our D-12 Fire-Retardant Scaffold Wrap is an easy-to-install solution to help prevent scaffold-related accidents. Simply wrap the heavy-duty polyethylene material around scaffolding to provide super strong jobsite protection.
- Facts: While scaffolds are the greatest hazard in the construction industry overall, falls account for the largest number of fatalities. Studies have shown that using guardrails, fall-arrest systems, safety nets and restraint systems can prevent many deaths and injuries from falls.
- OSHA’s solutions:
- Provide safer and sturdier elevated work surfaces by using aerial lifts or elevated platforms.
- Use guardrail systems with toeboards and warning lines or install control- line systems to protect workers near edges of floors and roofs.
- Cover or guard any floor holes around the site. Alternatively, or additionally, use safety net systems or personal fall-arrest systems like body harnesses or anchorages.
- Strong Man’s solution:
- Strong Man’s high tenacity Personnel Safety Nets meet OSHA and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) requirements. The synthetic mesh and border rope was made to absorb shock, and the nets can be customized to fit your individual job-site-size needs, allowing you to stay safe and feel safe on the job.
Our friends at OSHA are always hard at work discovering new facts about safety in the work place. For more facts and solutions about the biggest hazards in construction, visit this helpful OSHA pocket guide.