By Sean Clements In June 2020, roughly 40% of American adults reported struggling with mental health – including 11% who seriously considered suicide. But in the construction industry, the statistics rank even higher, with 49 out of 100,000 men in construction dying of suicide, nearly twice the rate of men in other industries. These figures don’t lie, but it is certainly a challenge to address them adequately. In an industry where sensitive issues like mental health and stress are simply swept under the rug, struggling workers feel helpless and hopeless – or just completely invisible. The stigma associated with admitting … Read more
What Keeps You up at Night? Making Workplace Safety Top Priority
By Deb Hilmerson We can build elaborate multi-million-dollar buildings but we can’t stop seriously injuring and killing people on construction sites. The million-dollar question is why? Not long ago, I read an article listing the top five things that keep most CEOs awake at night. Worker safety wasn’t even considered. I can pretty much guarantee it’s on your mind now. And if you’ve ever had an on-the-job fatality, it’s not something you’ll ever want to experience again. We are getting better but we are not improving fast enough. Ask yourself the hard questions: Do you do safety because the law … Read more
Partnership of Safety, HR + Operations Focuses on Helping People by Removing Mental Health Stigma
McCarthy Holdings, Inc. has announced a new integrated approach to breaking the stigma surrounding mental health to better meet the needs of employees, the craft workforce and their families. Designed to create more discussion around mental health awareness, acceptance and treatment options, the initiative establishes collaborative strategies and practices across McCarthy’s safety, human resources and operations teams — all under the umbrella of the firm’s Build for Life health and wellness program. As part of the expanded outreach, McCarthy’s integrated team developed new and updated materials, resources and tools to emphasize and support mental health awareness on jobsites and in … Read more
Data Center Launches Fatality Map Dashboard
To continue raising awareness of construction hazards and the need for improved safety in the industry, CPWR’s Data Center has developed the Construction Fatality Map Dashboard. It builds on the Construction Fatality Maps, which were launched in 2011 to support the National Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction. The new dashboard combines data from OSHA fatality investigations and online media sources gathered since 2011. It allows computer or mobile device users to search construction fatalities by four filters: Year, Event Type (major categories such as falls), State and Date.
8th Annual OSHA-NIOSH-CPWR National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls May 3-7
Falls continue to be the No.1 cause of workplace fatalities in construction: Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that between 2018 and 2019, fatal falls to a lower level increased from 321 to 401. Those figures make it more important than ever to re-focus on fall hazard awareness and the prevention of falls, particularly as employers and employees are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. CPWR has been posting new resources and information in connection with this May’s OSHA-NIOSH-CPWR National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls, including hosting webinars with members of the ANSI Z359 Accredited Standards Committee and the National Roofing … Read more