The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) May 3 released 13 new fact sheets designed to assist transportation construction industry firms in preventing fall-related deaths and injuries. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), almost 40 percent of all construction fatalities are fall-related. Falls are the second-leading cause of death in the transportation construction Industry, behind run overs and backovers.
The documents, released in conjunction with the May 2-6 “National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction”(https://www.osha.gov/StopFallsStandDown/), cover a wide range of topics, including suspension trauma, swing falls, horizontal lifelines, and lanyards and connectors.
“Using illustrations, photos and plain English explanations, the fact sheets were designed to help contractors and workers understand the basic concepts of fall prevention and protection,” says Brad Sant, ARTBA senior vice president of safety and education. “Our goal is to provide information in a way that any worker will understand, knowing what is needed to work safely in a variety of conditions.”
The fact sheets were developed by ARTBA in coordination with industry experts, and funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration. They are available for download at no cost through the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse (www.workzonesafety.org), a project of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation and a valuable resource for industry professionals, news media and the general public. Hard copies may be requested by emailing workzonesafety@artba.org.
The Clearinghouse, which handles more than 200,000 requests annually, is home to information on: accident and crash data, flagging, emerging technologies and equipment, best practices, key safety experts, laws and regulations, safety standards, research publications, training videos and programs, and successful public education campaigns. Materials are also available in six languages—Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Russian, and Arabic.
