Recommendations for construction safety and injury prevention: findings from the Construction FACE Database.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dong XS ; Katz R ; Wang X
• Description:
  Background: This study analyzed the Construction FACE Database (CFD), a quantitative database developed by CPWR from reports of the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The CFD contains detailed data on 768 fatalities in the construction industry reported by NIOSH and individual states from 1982 through June 30, 2015. In addition to information on workers' demographics and employment characteristics, the CFD includes information on the victim's employer and the overall job environment and safety climate when the incident occurred, such as use of personal protective equipment (PPE), safety training, etc. Recommendations from the FACE investigators, which may be unavailable in most existing data sources, were also categorized and coded in the CFD. This study focused on FACE recommendations. Methods: Recommendations fell into five main categories: PPE (including provide functional personal fall arrest system or PFAS), Equipment (e.g., install safety protection, enforce proper use of equipment), Training (such as safety training or job training), Organizational Factors (e.g., conduct Job Safety/ Hazard Analysis), and Violations (such as enforce child labor laws). These recommendations were stratified by characteristics of the victim workers (e.g., race, gender, age, occupation, job tenure), and their employers (e.g., construction subsectors, years in business), as well as type of injuries (e.g., fall or struck-by injuries). SAS 9.4 was used for analyses. Results: Of the 768 fatalities in the CFD, 42.3% were from falling, 17.7% were due to contact with electricity, and 17.3% were from being struck by objects, equipment, or vehicles. The majority of the victims were male, and one in five died within the first two months on the job. PFAS were not available to more than half of the fall decedents (54%). Lack of access to PFAS was particularly high among residential building contractors as well as roofing, siding, and sheet metal industry sectors (approx. 70%). The FACE investigators gave specific recommendations to each case. Among deaths due to falls, 79% of reports recommended providing safety training and 54% recommended installing safety protections. Providing safety training and ensuring safe worksite conditions was recommended for 75% and 49% of the electrocution cases, respectively. For fatalities due to struck-by injuries, 64% of reports recommended providing safety training, and 42% called for installing safety protections. Conducting a job safety analysis was recommended more frequently for smaller businesses than larger businesses. Newly established businesses were more likely to receive recommendations for providing functional PFAS and proper equipment for the task. Providing safety training was also more likely to be recommended for workers under 25 years of age (> 85%) than for older workers (68% for workers 65+). Overall, the most common recommendations were providing safety training (75%) and installing safety protections (43%). Discussion: Comprehensive research using FACE reports may improve understanding of work-related fatalities and provide much-needed information on injury prevention. Although the findings may not represent the entire construction industry today, they provide strong evidence in favor of protection requirements by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In addition to stronger enforcement, educating employers and workers about the importance and effectiveness of safety protection is crucial for compliance and injury prevention.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Movements DNA Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Preceptorship Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management

  More +
• Keywords:
  Construction Industry Construction Workers Databases FACE Program Fatalities Fatality Assessment And Control Evaluation Program Injury Prevention Mortality Data Safety Measures
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Abstract
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  96-97
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062992
• Citation:
  National Occupational Injury Research Symposium 2018, (NOIRS 2018), October 16-18, 2018, Morgantown, West Virginia. Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2018 Oct; :96-97
• Contact Point Address:
  Rebecca F. Katz, MPH, Research Assistant, CPWR - The Center for Construction Research & Training, 8484 Georgia Ave, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910
• Email:
  RKatz@cpwr.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  National Occupational Injury Research Symposium 2018, (NOIRS 2018), October 16-18, 2018, Morgantown, West Virginia
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1d3ff98941430bdf4844c0d1e9e51934110bf692d100e3ca5c069444d4ff27dbde5e98627c869b902e5e66ef19812dc0e79d905de32596a1e75fde0e7d20f1bf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181909/cdc_181909_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 41.62 KB ]