Occupational Health
and Safety hosted a webinar April 10, 2013, about protecting workers from
falls. The webinar was presented by the Campaign to Prevent Falls in
Construction, an initiative led by NIOSH, OSHA and Center for Construction
Research and Training (CPWR). Speakers included Christine Branche, principal associate
director and director of the Office of Construction Safety and Health for NIOSH;
Pete Stafford, CPWR executive director; and Jim Maddux, director, OSHA
Directorate of Construction.
Since its launch in April 2012, the campaign’s website has had half a
million views, and all educational products provided on the website are free.
The campaign currently offers fact sheets, videos and other resources to help contractors
and workers prevent falls from roofs, ladders and scaffolds, the top three
locations from which construction falls occur. From 2008 to 2010, 31% of falls
were from roofs, 23.6% were from ladders and 14.6% were from scaffolding or
staging. Many of the campaign’s factsheets are also available in Spanish and
other languages, and the group plans to develop more resources for construction
professionals who are not fluent in English.
Safety professionals are urged to get involved and spread
the word about the campaign by following NIOSH on Twitter, liking its Facebook
page, distributing campaign materials, and joining the campaign.
