Tag: construction worker safety: Page 4

Safety

Safety Week Lesson 5: Complacency on articulated dump truck rollovers gets a rude awakening

Articulated trucks, because of their design and the uneven terrain they work in, have a habit of rolling over. Don Swasing, chief operating officer at Schlouch Inc., knew this, but was bothered by the fact that some number of rollovers were considered inevitable. There was a lot of complacency, he says, and that was unacceptable—the […]

January 1, 2016

Safety

Safety Week Lesson 4: Equipment mods cut rate of slips, trips and falls

Falls from equipment are the number-one source of injuries in the heavy construction arena. Traylor Bros. wanted to do something about it. Despite good access systems on most OEM equipment, Traylor Bros., fleet managers thought they could do better. The company researched the relevant regs in the OSHA 1926 standard, says Adam Ralph, fleet maintenance […]

December 31, 2015

Safety

Safety Week Lesson 3: Driver’s tip leads to lighting overhaul of yard

Zero-dark thirty is a time of day all too familiar to construction workers. And at Schlouch Inc., when the day begins in total darkness the equipment yard is an area where dozens of vehicles and people may be rushing around to get the day started. When a truck driver casually mentioned to Kevin Reimert, fleet […]

December 30, 2015

Safety

Safety Week Lesson 2: Information campaign stops frozen air horn danger

At Traylor Bros., Jason Ruggles, shop manager, heard that in winter truck drivers were putting frozen air horns on the dash of their pickup trucks to warm them up. This can cause the gas in the can to pressurize to the point where the can explodes. Not only would this tear up the cab, it […]

December 29, 2015

Workforce

Safety Week Lesson 1: RFID card reader prevents unauthorized machine access

Tim Truex, midsize equipment and electrical manager for Kokosing Construction wanted a way to prevent unauthorized operators from starting equipment, especially cranes, aerial work platforms, forklifts and CDL vehicles. When site supers get in a rush to move something, there is a temptation to let untrained workers get in the crane or telehandlers for a […]

December 28, 2015

Safety

Construction Safety Week: 6 lessons from the real world

Are your guys bored with safety talks? Do the topics seem stale, obvious or theoretical? Since it’s the end of the year we figure it’s the perfect time for reflection. Construction jobsites can be dangerous places. One poor decision or one overlooked piece of safety equipment can be the difference between life and death. In […]

December 28, 2015

Safety

Dallas now requiring contractors to give workers heat breaks

The Dallas City Council last week passed a measure that requires contractors working in the city limits to give workers a 10-minute break every four hours, in efforts to better protect those working in the extreme Texas heat. According to The Texas Tribune, the council voted 10-5 to approve the measure and joins Austin as the […]

December 17, 2015

Safety

2 men crushed to death in seperate heavy equipment accidents in Texas and Alaska

Heavy equipment accidents led to the deaths of two men in the last month. According to a report from KXAN TV, 24-year-old construction worker Armando Juarez was killed Nov. 18 while assisting with the installation of storm water drainage pipes in Manor, Texas. Juarez was killed when an excavator bucket fell on top of him […]

December 17, 2015

Safety

Dozer operator dies after being impaled by tree limb in Wisconsin

A bulldozer operator in Wisconsin was killed last month when he was impaled by a tree limb. According to a report from The Northwestern, 55-year-old Wayne N. Remer, was using the machine to move tree limbs from a field being cleared in Nepeuskun Nov. 11 when “one of the tree limbs entered the bulldozer’s cabin” and […]

December 15, 2015

Safety

OSHA opens investigation after Missouri contractor fails to report roofer’s death

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration last month opened an investigation into an unreported fall that killed a worker on a Missouri jobsite. According to a report from the Leader, 36-year-old roofer Nathan Scott Hemmen died after he fell while installing roof trusses. Hemmen suffered a 10-foot fall onto a concrete floor Oct. 21 […]

December 8, 2015

Home

NYC construction deaths surging due to “overwhelmed” regulators, Times investigative report finds

An investigative report from the New York Times has found that the number of construction workers killed on the job in New York City has surged in the last two years, far outpacing the rate of the city’s new construction in that time. Calling safety conditions on NYC jobsites “woefully inadequate,” the Times report says many of the […]

December 7, 2015

Workforce

Worker survives being impaled through chest by rebar

The witnesses and others who helped save Casey Zawojski’s life after a terrifying accident on a Florida jobsite are crediting divine intervention, and it’s easy to see why. According to a report from the Ocala Star-Banner, Zawojski, a 20-year-old painter, was doing prep work from a ladder at a residential jobsite when the ladder fell. […]

November 25, 2015