Common Ground Alliance’s 2015 DIRT Report Estimates 9% Drop in Damages to Buried Utilities

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Common Ground Alliance, the stakeholder-run organization dedicated to protecting underground utility lines and the people who dig near them, shared findings from its comprehensive 2015 Damage Information Reporting Tool report. The report, which is the sum of all 2015 data submitted anonymously and voluntarily by facility operators, utility locating companies, one call centers, contractors and regulators, estimates that the total number of underground excavation damages in the U.S. last year dropped by 9 percent from the year prior, to approximately 317,000 damages. The 2015 damage ratio, which measures damages per 1,000 one-call transmissions, decreased by nearly 4 … Read more

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Sundt Wins W. Burr Bennett Award for Safety Excellence

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The American Society of Concrete Contractors has honored Sundt Construction, Inc. with the 2016 W. Burr Bennett Award for Safety Excellence. The award, which recognizes one general contractor and one specialty contractor for placing the highest priority on safety, was presented at ASCC’s 2016 annual conference. “This is not only a reflection of Sundt’s positive safety culture at work, but its commitment to protecting each and every Sundt employee,” said Sundt Concrete Division Manager Stew Grauer. “Sundt put in more than 3.5 million hours in 2015 and had just a handful of recordable incidents.” Earlier this year, Sundt also won … Read more

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OSHA, Turner Forge Partnership to Train, Protect Construction Workers on CH2 Data Center

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OSHA and Turner Construction Turner Company recently established a partnership to protect workers on the CH2 Data Center project in Northlake, Illinois. The partnership includes trade unions and 15 subcontractors, with a combined workforce of more than 500 employees. Construction of the $275-million, 22.8 megawatt data center is expected to be complete in 2018. The partnership will emphasize reducing injury and illness on the jobsite and will focus training on the top four construction industry hazards: falls, struck-by, caught-in/between and electrocutions. The partnership will require all employers, contractors and subcontractors to implement written safety and health programs conduct daily pre-task … Read more

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When Temperatures Rise, So Can Construction Injuries

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Changes in climate and weather patterns around the world are shattering records every day. Somewhere in our own backyard, today may be the driest, the wettest, the coldest… and the hottest. During the summer months, extreme heat is no stranger to many parts of the U.S. But even in the northern states, temperatures can rise dramatically, taking a toll on anyone, particularly those who make their living outside on construction sites. As a result, superintendents, foremen and project managers are using every opportunity to keep workers safe. Some projects are inherently more challenging than others; for example, pouring hot asphalt … Read more

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Is Your Crew Scaffold Savvy? Best Practices for Scaffolds, Temporary Works and Working Platforms

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Fall protection is the most frequently cited OSHA violation. And for construction workers, falls are the leading cause of death according to the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration. In addition, an estimated 2.3 million construction workers, or 65 percent of the construction industry, work on scaffolds. In a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study, 72 percent of workers injured in scaffold accidents attributed the accident either to the planking or support giving way, or to the employee slipping or being struck by a falling object. All of these accidents could have been controlled by compliance … Read more

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