Concrete pour hazards

Source excerpt

TENSIN MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STANDARDS # Trench Hazard Alert MASSsafety Works! Workplace Safety is No Accident Every year, workers are killed or seriously injured conducting work in trenches, including utility repair, utility inspections, and construction. Trenches are recognized by OSHA as one of the most hazardous construction work conditions, with a fatality rate more than double that for construction work overall. ## Requirements for Trench Work • Protect workers from soil cave-ins in all trenches 5' or deeper, and in shallower trenches where a cave-in hazard exists. Do this by supporting the walls with shoring, shielding workers with trench boxes, or sloping the walls back wide enough, in accordance with the OSHA Excavation Standard. • Provide ladders to workers in trenches 4' or deeper. • Underground utilities must be identified and supported. Call Dig Safe at 1-(888) 344-7233. • Ensure that workers wear high visibility clothing when exposed to vehicle traffic, and use appropriate work zone signage and traffic channeling set-ups. . Spoils must be kept back a minimum of 2' from the trench edge. Keep equipment and heavy material as far back from the trench edge as possible. • Stabilize undermined adjacent structures. • Protect employees from water accumulation by pumping out ground or utility water, and preventing drainage or other water from entering the trench. • Do not allow employees to work under suspended or raised loads or materials. • Conduct pre-job planning and inspections of trench worksites. A competent person must inspect each trench worksite, including the soil protective system, prior to the start of work, and again if there is a hazard-increasing change in conditions such as a rainstorm. Unsafe trenches are dangerous! Trenches more than 20 feet in depth must be designed by a registered professional engineer. ## Workers in trenches face other significant hazards in addition to cave-in of the soil walls, including: . …

Source excerpt

# Injuries Are Not Accidents: Construction Will Be Safe When It's Designed to Be Safe (cont.) ## Construction industry tops the injury numbers (cont.) electric current, and being struck by objects dur- ing 1992-2005.14 In 2008, BLS reported that the construction industry experienced a total of 120,240 serious nonfatal injuries causing days away from work (II percent of such injuries across all industries); this is the fourth highest percentage among all US in- dustry sectors, behind trade, transportation and utilities (30 percent); education and health ser- vices (17 percent); and manufacturing (13 per- cent). 15 Construction sector injuries causing days away from work had the highest lost-time rate (174 injuries per 10,000 full-time workers) of any US industry sector.15 Studies of non-fatal construction-related con- tact injuries (that is, injuries in which a worker is struck by an object or a piece of equipment) treat- ed in emergency departments during the period 1998-2005 found that contact injuries accounted for over half of all construction injuries treated in emergency departments. 16.17 The most common injuries were due to contact with discharged nails from pneumatic nail guns, hand-held power saws, and fixed saws.16 Some injuries may involve mul- tiple workers (e.g., trench cave-ins, collapses of walls, roofs, or scaffolding of buildings under construction). Seven specific tools or pieces of equipment-ladders, nail guns, power saws, ham- mers, knives, power drills, and welding tools- were responsible for almost two-thirds of the injury burden in emergency departments." Construction workers suffer not only occupa- tional injuries, but also numerous occupational illnesses. Many of these illnesses are difficult to capture in statistics because of long latencies, as described below. Among the many trades and occupations in- volved in the construction industry roofers, along with structural iron and steel workers, were the trade groups suffering from both …

Source excerpt

SIGILLUM MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF MASSsafety Works! MASSAC LABOR STANDARDS Workplace Safety is No Accident Fall Prevention in Construction FALLS REMAIN THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN CONSTRUCTION In the U.S. during 2022, there were 1,056 fatalities in construction. Of these deaths, 423 were due to falls. ## All falls can be prevented Construction employees exposed to an unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by and trained in the use of: Guardrail System Safety Net System Personal Fall Arrest System Thinking about fall hazards before the work begins will help employers to manage fall hazards and focus attention on prevention efforts. If personal fall protection systems are used, particular attention should be given to identifying attachment points and to ensuring that employees know how to properly use and inspect the equipment. Training employees on the proper use of fall protection is critical. Training resources can be found by contacting the fall protection manufacturer and by visiting: osha.gov/SLTC/fallprotection/evaluation.html Safety Pays Falls Cost PLAN. PROVIDE. TRAIN. Three simple steps to preventing falls. The Department of Labor Standards offers free consultation services designed to help municipal and private employers recognize and control safety and health hazards at their worksites, improve safety and health programs, and assist in training employees. If you would like to learn more about our free consultation services please call us at (508) 616-0461

Source excerpt

# Keep Your Workers Safe Any Fall Can Be Fatal or Debilitating! (cont.) ## The ABC's of PFAS A PFAS must meet specific requirements. Some of these are described below. *** ## A - Anchor Point The anchor point (tie-off point) is a secure point of attachment for the fall arrest system's lanyard or lifeline. • Anchor point locations should be planned out before work begins. • The anchor point should be attached to a substantial structural member, such as a beam, girder, roof truss or rafter. • The anchor point must support either 5,000 pounds per worker (the weight of two small cars) or twice the intended load. • When installing anchor points, follow the manufacturer's instructions. A Never use a pipe or vent as an anchor point. Never use sheetrock screws to install an anchor point. ## B - Body Harness A full-body harness is required for a PFAS. The body harness distributes the force of a fall to reduce the chance of bodily injury. It includes shoulder and thigh straps, and a D-ring. A Body belts should never be part of a PFAS. A Make sure that D-rings are larger than the snap hook. Note: The connecting D-ring in a properly fitted harness should be located in the center of the upper back. Locking snap hook Harness Rope D-ring grab Lanyard with shock absorber Lifeline Not all PFAS components are interchangeable. ## C - Connecting Device A retractable lifeline or shock-absorbing lanyard and its connectors are used to link a full-body harness to the anchor system. Never hook lanyards together unless manufacturer approved. ! Shock-absorbing lanyards and retractable lifelines are rarely compatible-do not connect. Different types of connectors include carabiners, snap hooks, D-rings, and rope grabs. Connectors must have a minimum tensile strength of 5,000 pounds. ## D - Descent & Rescue You must have a plan for rescuing a worker whose fall has been arrested. • The plan should be designed to raise or lower a worker to safety without any p…

Source excerpt

Trench Safety Working in an unprotected trench is dangerous - Protect workers from cave-ins when trenches are at least 5' deep and from shallower trenches where a cave-in hazard exists. - o Do this by supporting the walls with shoring, shielding workers with trench boxes, or sloping the walls back wide enough, per the OSHA Excavation Standard. - o Protect employees from water accumulation by pumping out ground or utility water. - Provide ladders to workers when working in trenches of at least 4'. Call Dig Safe at 1-(888) 344-7233 to identify underground utilities. Ensure that workers wear high-visibility clothing when working around vehicle traffic. - Use Part 6 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to determine appropriate work zone signage and traffic channeling devices. • Spoils must be placed 2 feet from the trench edge. • Do not allow employees to work under suspended or raised loads or materials. A competent person must inspect each trench worksite, including the soil protective system, before the start of work, and again if there is a hazard-increasing change in conditions, like a rainstorm. ## Resources from the Department of Labor Standards Download a copy of our Trench Template Program and Inspection Worksheet at mass.gov/doc/trench-template-program-and-worksheet ## For more information, visit mass.gov/dls MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF MASSsafety Works! LABOR STANDARDS Workplace Safety is No Accident 3-20-24

Source excerpt

# Injuries Are Not Accidents: Construction Will Be Safe When It's Designed to Be Safe (cont.) CASE STUDY 4: Injuries Are Not Accidents vulnerable population of immigrant workers. To manage its countless occupational hazards and protect workers adequately, the construction sec- tor requires a more comprehensive approach than mere compliance with government standards or sporadic application of control measures after se- rious incidents occur. One of the best solutions is to implement an occupational safety and health management system (OSH-MS) in the worksite. ## The highly hazardous construction sector ## A complex and dynamic work environment The construction industry is one of those complex economic sectors that pose particular challenges in protecting workers' safety and health.² Con- struction work embraces not only building proj- ects but also maintaining, repairing, renovating, and demolishing houses, apartment buildings, and office buildings. Larger-scale construction projects include not only major buildings (for ex- ample, health care facilities), but also infrastruc- ture components (e.g. roads, tunnels, bridges, airports, docks). 2.3 In these various activities, the worker experiences highly hazardous conditions- not only the hazards of his/her own job, but also hazards from co-workers. 2.3 Construction workers also operate in an unusually dynamic workplace: construction requires the physical transformation of the site: each new stage of the project brings along different materials, technologies, work pro- cesses, and hazardous exposures.4 Dangerous job conditions may include work at heights or in excavations; the clutter of building materials; motor vehicles and equipment; pro- longed standing, bending and stooping; noise, dust, and welding fumes; power tools; confined spaces and cramped spaces; temperature extremes; ## ABOUT THIS CASE STUDY he first section of the case study profiles the chief character- The especially hazardous trades, costs of …