Landscape Architect Articles

Work-Related Fatalities06-10-16 | News

Work-Related Fatalities
A Critical Dialogue

Private construction industry deaths grew nine percent year to year, and reached the highest annual total since 2008 according to the U.S. Department of Labor who recently released its updated, final count of fatal work injuries in 2014. The total across all industries, 4,821, was also the highest since 2008.

**Fatal Work Injuries by Occupation in 2014**
Transportation and Material Moving - 1,346
Construction and Extraction - 902
Management - 440
Installation, Maintenance and Repair - 406
Farming Fishing and Forestry - 259
Sales and Sales Related - 234
Protective Services - 213

**Fatal Work Injuries by Event in 2014**
Transportation Incidents - 1,984
Falls, Slips, Trips - 818
Violence and Other Injuries by Persons or Animals - 765
Contact with Objects and Equipment - 715
Exposure to Harmful Substances or Environments - 390
Other Events - 149

According to the 2016 Safety Performance Report just released by Associated Builders and Contractors, using proactive safety practices can reduce recordable incidents by up to 86 percent compared to the industry average of 3.6 injuries/fatalities per 100 full-time workers. The report, which is filled with infographics and practical takeaways, is based on data gathered from companies that participated in ABC's 2015 Safety Training Evaluation Process. Key programs that made a positive impact included robust substance abuse programs and policies, new hire safety orientations of more than 195 minutes, and site-specific safety instruction.
https://tinyurl.com/jqnlsmo
https://www.abc.org/en-us/safety/step.aspx

At the inaugural Suicide Prevention Summit presented by the Phoenix chapter of the Construction Financial Management Association to address concerns of the matter in the construction industry, Cal Beyer, director of risk management at Lakeside Industries reported, "Great strides have been made in breaking the wall of silence around mental health and suicide prevention. The construction industry workforce is at risk and contractors want to learn how to build a caring culture to help their employees get the assistance they need to cope with life struggles."
vos.cfma.org/valleyofthesun

Additional information available on Twitter with #SuicidePreventionCFMA

As seen in LC/DBM magazine, June 2016.