Email from CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training

CPWR UPDATE

From the Desk of Chris Trahan Cain, Executive Director

May 2025

Continuing the Fight Against Constrution Falls

We are nearly through the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction Falls, the annual event of the national campaign led by CPWR, OSHA, and, previously, NIOSH. For more than a decade, the Stand-Down has provided contractors an opportunity to pause work and focus on fall prevention planning and training with everyone on their jobsites. The need is clear: falls are annually the leading cause of on-the-job deaths of construction workers -- as many as 418 in a recent year. New additions to CPWR’s extensive collection of resources for responding to this hazard include English and Spanish recordings of last week’s webinars on preparing for the Stand-Down and addressing fall protection for leading edge work, as well as an infographic mapping fall fatalities across the U.S. More guidance on how to plan, provide, and train for fall safety all year is on the Stop Construction Falls website.

TOOLS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH

New Fact Sheet on Cut-Off Saws

CPWR’s review of OSHA’s Fatality Inspection Data revealed numerous fatal and serious injuries involving cut-off saws -- from incidents such as kickback, blade pinching, or material ejection -- highlighting the severe risks created by improper use. Our new fact sheet, developed with support from the NIOSH-NORA Construction Sector Council Struck-by Work Group, provides essential safety information on proper cut-off saw operations to help prevent struck-by injuries, fatalities, and exposure to hazardous silica dust. It covers both potential hazards and approaches to prevention, including training and PPE; it also lists additional resources.

New Interactive Construction Chart Book Offers Data on Workers, Safety, and More

The 7^th edition Interactive Construction Chart Book now offers two dozen chapters filled with data about key elements of the construction industry, such as characteristics of businesses, worker demographics, employment trends, severe and fatal injuries, and OSHA citations. For the first time, each chapter in this new edition provides dynamic key findings and charts that update with selected filters. More dashboards will be added in the coming months, and the 7th edition Construction Chart Book PDF will be published this summer.

The next issue of REASON, the newsletter from NABTU and CPWR to help the construction industry prevent suicides and deaths from opioids, comes out at the end of the month. Four times a year REASON (Resources and Effective programs Addressing Suicides and Opioids Now) provides solutions, important research, and free resources that highlight these issues and the positive steps being taken to address them. Read past issues and subscribe now.

RESEARCH NEWS

Participate in CPWR Heat Safety Research

The multiple efforts to develop standards to address occupational heat stress point out heat's impact on construction workers, including increased the risk of traumatic injuries like falls, decreased physical work capacity, and life-threatening illness in the form of heatstroke. CPWR has begun a study to better understand the impacts of heat stress and to develop effective strategies for managing it, and we are looking for contractors to participate in the research. Learn more from this flyer.

An investigation of the ethical and social risks of exoskeletons in the construction industry. Omobolanle Ogunseiju, Yong Kwon Cho, Mariam Tomori, Likith Rudraraju. CPWR Small Study, 2025. Read the full report and the Key Finding.

NEWS & EVENTS

Webinars

Wednesday, May 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET (1 hour)

CPWR Webinar: Improving Safety Climate for Hispanic Construction Workers

Join CPWR and researchers from the Carolina Center for Healthy Work Design and Worker Well-Being as they share findings from a multi-method study involving over 500 construction workers—including Spanish- and English-language safety climate surveys, in-depth interviews, and a photo discussion group. They will discuss key safety concerns voiced by Hispanic construction workers and their peers, along with the practical, worksite-specific solutions they proposed. In addition, attendees will walk away with an understanding of actionable changes that employers and safety professionals can make—such as strengthening worker-led, bilingual safety committees, offering foremen training that builds communication and trust across cultures, investing in bilingual supervision, and reducing the social and economic cost that workers face for reporting injuries or incidents. Whether you manage crews, train safety professionals, or design interventions, this session will offer worker-informed strategies for creating safer job sites for all.

Moderator: Chris Trahan Cain, CIH, Executive Director, CPWR

Panelists:

Maija Leff, MPH, Associate Director, Carolina Center for Healthy Work Design and Worker Well-Being
Laura Linnan, ScD, Director, Carolina Center for Healthy Work Design and Worker Well-Being

Click here to register and submit questions in advance.

CPWR in the News

Construction Worker Injuries, Overdoses, and Suicides, NIEHS WTP E-Newsletter, 4/11/25

Nanoparticles may be in your workplace. Are they safe?, Northwest Labor Press, 4/17/25

Pre-task planning in construction: Researchers develop new guidelines, Safety+Health Magazine, 4/30/25