Posts by cvoyles

By cvoyles on Apr 26, 2013 in Updates |

On the BCTD President’s Blog is a mention of the Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction as a way to promote safety and prevent injuries and fatalities in the construction industry. From the post: The construction industry makes up only 7% of our nation’s workforce. But when we compare our industry to other industries like agriculture, manufacturing, and mining, we consistently have the most number of workers killed on the job. Even when the numbers of construction-related fatalities dropped, as they did during our current economic downturn, we are still at the top of the list in workplace fatalities. Even worse, we know what constitutes the top killer of construction workers. And it remains consistent, year after year.  One-third of all construction fatalities are from falls. Falls from rooftops; falls from ladders; falls from scaffoldings; and falls from staging. That’s why it’s important that we all pay particular attention to the famous words spoke by that fearless fighter for worker justice, Mother Jones, who said, “Pray for the dead. Fight like hell for the living.” Read the rest of the post at their...

By cvoyles on Apr 26, 2013 in Updates |

Fatality Maps have just been published for the first quarter of 2013. To see the new maps, click over to our Fatality Map page. Maps for 2011 and 2012 are still on the website on their own respective pages. To view the data that makes up the map, click here to download an excel file. For more information about this year’s Fatality Map or the Fatality Map in general, please see our Fatality Mapping Project page. If you are aware of a construction worksite fatality that has occurred since January 2013, please email fatalitymap@cpwr.com for it to be included in the...

By cvoyles on Apr 25, 2013 in Updates |

A Massachusetts-tailored Campaign poster appears on a subway car in greater Boston. Campaign posters are also up on regional transit bus routes throughout the state. All ad space was donated and posters will run from April – June as part of a multi-layered state-based initiative to promote the Campaign.  Read more about the efforts in Massachusetts to prevent falls in construction...

By cvoyles on Apr 24, 2013 in Updates |

As the Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction moves into its second year, Occupational Health and Safety Online has posted an article on the campaign by CPWR’s Pete Stafford. The article begins: We recently received a video so remarkable that it deserves to be shared with everyone who walks onto a construction site. In “I fell off the roof today,” posted on YouTube, a roofer identified only as “Isidro” shares a harrowing experience. While working on the roof of a three-story, stick-built residential project, Isidro lost his balance. But not his life. Fortunately, his employer had supplied suitable fall protection gear, and Isidro had donned it properly. “The first thing I did on the roof is install an anchor above,” he explained. “I already had my harness on. I had everything on, everything in place.” His fall over the roof’s edge was arrested almost immediately, and his co-workers freed him before he suffered any lasting effects. Still photographs presented in the video show Isidro dangling after the fall, shocked but unharmed, driving the point home. “You will never see me on a site untied,” Isidro concludes. “We all have family. So protect yourself.” Read more about the Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction and ways to prevent falls at Occupational Health and Safety...

By cvoyles on Apr 24, 2013 in Updates |

“Everybody seems to think that we’re invincible.  At least I used to think that.” So begins a digital story about Joe, a 45-year old roofing supervisor in California who died tragically after he fell through a warehouse roof skylight while on the job.  He fell 30 feet onto a floor, and died from his injuries. OHB’s California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (CA/FACE) program produced a five-minute digital story with two of Joe’s co-workers highlighting the events that led up to his death and what could have been done to prevent it.  The moving video will be used by roofers and others in trainings to prevent similar fatalities from occurring.  Watch the skylight video The video will be promoted as Workers Memorial Day events commemorate workers who gave their lives for their work and highlight efforts to prevent workplace deaths.  Workers Memorial Day is April...