According to the most recent work accident statistics, workers in the construction industry experience the most work-related injuries and fatalities each year. Overall, the construction industry has the third-highest fatality rate of all other industries. It is for this reason that the Occupational Safety and Health Association urges construction companies to provide thorough safety training for their employees.
The Occupational Safety and Health Association provide OSHA training, including OSHA fall protection training, to minimize the number of falls that occur in the construction industry each year. If you take a look at the statistics, it’s clear that something of this nature needed to be done, as 363 constructions workers were killed as a result of work-related falls between 1995 and 1999.
Although equipment failure leads to a few construction injuries each year, in most cases work-related construction injuries can be attributed to user error. This means that helmets aren’t worn or worn improperly, rigging supplies are not hooked up right, or fall protection equipment is not checked for security. That being said, rigging safety training not only trains construction workers how to properly secure their harnesses and rigs, but reinforces the importance of observing all safety guidelines at all times.
Even when they are offsite, it is good practice for construction employees to spend a few minutes thinking about what they learned during their rigging safety training. While this doesn’t have to go on forever, it is always wise to try doing it until these simple, yet crucial, safety procedures become second nature.
If you work in construction, failing to abide by pre-established safety guidelines not only endangers you, but it also creates hazards for your coworkers. Although you might be able to live with carelessness that injures you, living with the fact that your carelessness and negligence killed someone else won’t be quite as easy.
