How Superintendents Can Support Mental Health on the Jobsite

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

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Survey Says: ABC Members Invested $1.3B in Construction Workforce Education in 2020

According to the results of the Associated Builders and Contractors 2021 Workforce Development Survey, ABC contractor members invested $1.3 billion in workforce development initiatives in 2020, providing craft, leadership and safety education to 500,000 course attendees to advance their careers in commercial and industrial construction. Safety education accounted for 71% of the total workforce investment as per-person spending doubled, revealing an elevated focus on worker education, safety and total human health during the COVID-19 pandemic. “America’s economic engine is fueled by a workforce equipped with durable and transferable skill sets, and ABC members are dedicated to investing in essential safety … Read more

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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

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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.

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Worker Safety on Worker’s Memorial Day from the Desk of CPWR Executive Director Chris Trahan

Fifty years ago on April 28, the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect. It created two federal agencies vital to protecting American workers: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. April 28 is also Workers’ Memorial Day in the U.S., the National Day of Mourning in Canada and International Workers’ Memorial Day around the globe. It is a day to pause, to mourn for those injured, made sick or killed by their jobs and to pledge to do better to protect all workers’ safety and health. In the half-century since … Read more

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