According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics/Department of Labor Sept. 11 report, construction fatalities decreased slightly in 2013, and fatalities in the industry have dropped 36 percent since 2006. There were 796 workplace deaths in the private construction industry in 2013 and 806 in 2012. That translates into a 2013 fatality rate of 9.4 per 100,000 workers, down from 9.5 in 2012.

Under a final rule issued By the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Sept. 11, contractors will face new deadlines and requirements for reporting severe injuries on the jobsite. The rule will go into effect Jan. 1, 2015 for all employers covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, even those who are exempt from maintaining injury and illness records.

The key behind a world-class safety program is maintaining a strong culture where the people work together every day with the same uncompromising core value: that every incident is preventable. The road to forming a culture of interdependence--where a company’s employees aren’t simply expected to work safe but actively work to keep others around them safe— can be filled with many challenges both expected and unexpected  but the end result is worth it.

ABC and its allies in the construction industry once again cautioned OSHA that if the agency moves forward with its proposed rule to address silica exposure in the construction industry, contractors will be stuck with unnecessary regulations that are technologically and economically infeasible to implement.

Once a company has established a total commitment to a zero-incident jobsite, where both leadership and craft employees believe that every incident is preventable, the next step toward achieving world-class safety lies in the systems and processes that a company employs to identify and prevent hazards from becoming incidents. This is where the rubber meets the road—the processes you put in place are what puts the core value of safety into action.

In the second article of a four-part series on achieving world-class safety written by ABC’s Director of Safety, Chris Williams, we explore what it means for a company to consider safety a priority versus a core value. When safety is a core value, it’s the basis of all major decisions made by company leadership and all employees. This article highlights how to get from thinking about safety when it’s necessary to thinking about safety during every aspect of the job.

Good leaders are liked by their subordinates because they maintain a relative peacefulness and calmness—people are happy to work for these leaders.  Great leaders, however, understand that in order to motivate a group of individuals to achieve a common set of goals, they must lead by example and never compromise on their core beliefs. Great leaders foster a culture of excellence, where everyone not only believes in the organization’s core values, but practices them in every facet of their work—and sometimes personal—lives. 

OSHA has released an updated list of almost 500 industry groups that are exempt from programmed safety inspections for FY2015; the list includes five construction-related North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. An employer would be exempt from a programmed inspection when there are 10 or fewer employees at a worksite.

STEP Platinum and Diamond recipients that would like to participate in the 2014 Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) Construction Industry Safety Excellence (CISE) awards must submit their applications to ABC by July 7.

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced March 19 a new piece of their Fall Prevention Campaign to raise awareness about the hazards of falls among employers and employees in construction. The national safety “stand-down” encourages employers to take time between June 2-6, 2014 to discuss fall prevention, ladder, scaffolding and roof safety and more and will recognize employers that participate with a personalized certificate.