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CPWR UPDATE
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March 2018
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From the Desk of Chris Trahan Cain, Executive Director
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The Construction Chart Book, 6th Edition
I am pleased to announce the release of our sixth edition of The Construction Chart Book: The U.S. Construction Industry and Its Workers. This CPWR mainstay, with its extensive statistical portrait of the construction industry, has become an essential reference for all construction stakeholders, such as policy makers, researchers, contractors, labor unions and management, construction workers, safety professionals, trainers, and reporters. Take a look inside the new Chart Book and you will learn that:
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Construction unemployment dropped from a peak of 27.1% in February 2010 to 7.5% by the end of 2015 (page 20).
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There were 144,583 active apprentices in construction in fiscal year 2016, accounting for more than 70% of the total in all U.S. industries (page 30).
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Between 2010 and 2016, 35 states passed legislation preventing worker misclassification and increasing penalties for violations (page 22).
But the news is not all good. The number of fatal injuries in construction is up sharply from its low of 781 in 2011 to 985 in 2015 (page 38). While this was partly a reflection of job growth, it's still unacceptable. Despite continuous efforts, falls from height claimed the lives of 353 construction workers in 2015, a 36% increase from 2011 (page 44).
The new Chart Book also contains important insights on issues from today's headlines:
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Independent contracting, staffing agencies and other nonstandard employment arrangements accounted for 37% of the 2015 construction labor force in 2015 (page 21).
- About 2.3 million workers are exposed to silica hazards in their workplaces. The majority - an estimated 2 million - work in construction (page 34).
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CPWR's eLCOSH NANO project has identified 557 construction products reported to contain engineered nanomaterials; 58% of these products are paints or coatings (page 25).
I hope you and your colleagues will make use of this vital public resource in your work to protect our nation's construction workers.
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 TOOLS FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH
Spanish Language Toolbox Talks
Did you know that CPWR's popular series of Toolbox Talks is available in Spanish? These interactive toolbox talks feature a bold image on one side and a script on the other, so that a supervisor or foreman can display the image to his or her crew while reading the text and questions on the reverse. You can find both the English and Spanish versions of each toolbox talk, from aerial lifts/jirafas to trench safety/seguridad in zanjas, on the CPWR website - select the titles you want and click to download and print.
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RESEARCH NEWS
Electrocutions and Prevention in Construction
Electrocution is a leading cause of fatalities in construction, and has been identified as one of the Focus Four hazards by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Between 2003 and 2015, the number of electrocution deaths in construction decreased by 39% -- but even so, 82 construction workers died of electrocution in 2015. As part of a series on the Focus Four, the CPWR Data Center analyzed trends and patterns in electrocution fatalities. For more information, see the CPWR Quarterly Data Report Electrocutions and Prevention in Construction.
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March 21 @ 2pm ET (60 min). The National Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction: Getting Ready for the 2018 Safety Stand-Down. Falls are the top cause of construction fatalities and account for 1/3 of on-the-job injuries and deaths in the industry. In 2012, CPWR, NIOSH, and OSHA together launched a national construction fall prevention campaign. Join CPWR Executive Director Chris Trahan Cain, Deputy Director Scott Ketcham of the OSHA Directorate of Construction, and Christine Branche, Ph.D, NIOSH Principal Associate Director and Director of the NIOSH Office of Construction Safety and Health for a webinar that will showcase past successes of the campaign and share plans for this year's National Safety Stand-Down, scheduled for May 7-11. CLICK TO REGISTER
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Hearing Loss among older construction workers: Updated Analyses. John Dement, Laura S. Welch, Knut Ringen, Kim Cranford, Patricia Quinn, 2018. American Journal of Industrial Medicine
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Experts Weigh In on Bilingual Best Practices for Jobsites. ENR
This type of injury disproportionately fatal to construction workers. ISHN Use of emerging safety technologies on the rise among construction contractors, survey shows. S+H
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