Common Ground Alliance Estimates Damage to Buried Utilities Increased with Excavation Activity between 2015, 2017

Common Ground Alliance, the stakeholder-driven organization dedicated to protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them and their communities, announced its findings and analysis of utility damage and near-miss events in the 2017 Damage Information Reporting Tool Report. The report, which analyzes all 2017 data submitted anonymously and voluntarily by facility operators, utility locating companies, one call centers, contractors, regulators and others, used a refined statistical modeling process to estimate that 439,000 excavation-related damages to underground facilities occurred in 2017, up 5.5 percent from a revised 2016 estimate. CGA, in collaboration with its statistical analysis consultant, Green Analytics, applied … Read more

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Brasfield & Gorrie Earns Safety Certification for Arizona Project

TUCSON, Ariz. – Brasfield & Gorrie recently attained Voluntary Protection Program Star certification at a Tucson, Arizona site where the general contractor is expanding Raytheon Missile Systems’ corporate headquarters. VPP is an Occupational Safety & Health Administration cooperative program. The certification process requires an application that details risks associated with the project, an explanation of safety and health training, assurance that the applicant will correct hazards and more. VPP offers three programs, of which Star is the highest. RMS is VPP Star certified, and the company sponsored Brasfield & Gorrie in the application. During the eight-month process, VPP authorities visited … Read more

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Contractors Identify Strong Safety Programs to Address Skilled Labor Scarcity, Substance Abuse

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Q3 2018 USG Corporation + U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commercial Construction Index recently released indicates skilled labor shortages will have the greatest impact on commercial construction businesses over the next three years. The report revealed 88 percent of contractors expect to feel at least a moderate impact from the workforce shortages in the next three years with over half (57 percent) expecting the impact to be high/very high. The skilled labor shortage has been consistently identified as a major issue facing the industry, but it is now reported by 80 percent of contractors to be impacting worker and … Read more

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Study Reviews Key Findings of Fatal Injuries at Road Construction Sites

Working at road construction sites can be dangerous. Between 2011 and 2016, 532 construction workers lost their lives at road construction sites, an average of 89 workers each year. CPWR’s Data Center recently explored road construction fatality trends and causes using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among the key findings: About half of these deaths happened when a worker on foot was struck by a vehicle or mobile heavy equipment (such as a dump truck on the worksite, or a passing car intruding on the worksite) Construction laborers suffered the greatest number of construction fatalities, and both the … Read more

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OSHA Seeks Nominations for Construction Advisory Committee

OSHA and the Secretary of Labor are seeking nominations for new members for the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register. The committee last met more than a year ago, and the terms of all of its members have since expired. ACCSH advises the Secretary of Labor and the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health on construction industry standards and policy related to safety and health. Members generally serve staggered two-year terms. OSHA seeks nominations for 14 new members in the following categories: Five members who are qualified … Read more

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