Category: Construction

NIOSH Observing Road Work Zone ‘Stand-Down’

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its partners will observe a National Work Zone Awareness Week from April 15 to April 19 focused on the safety of road construction workers, Director John Howard announced March 4 in the institute’s eNews newsletter. The event aims to encourage safe driving through highway work […]

ASSP Publishes Standard Addressing Heat Stress in Construction

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has published the first national voluntary consensus standard addressing heat stress for workers in construction and demolition operations. “This new industry consensus standard is an important development because there is no federal regulation focused on heat stress,” said ASSP President Jim Thornton, CSP, CIH, FASSP, FAIHA, in a […]

Back to Basics: Silica Hazards, Compliance, and Enforcement

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine silica hazards and compliance with related OSHA standards. Silica shows up in materials like sand, stone, concrete, and mortar and is used to make artificial stone, bricks, ceramics, glass, and pottery. Respirable […]

Massachusetts Roofer Facing $306K OSHA Fine for Repeat Violations

A Framingham, Massachusetts, roofing contractor with a history of fall-related safety violations is facing $306,229 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for again exposing employees to potentially fatal falls, OSHA announced February 21. The agency cited Brothers Construction Services Inc., which also operates as Brothers Construction and Roofing and Brothers Roofing, with eight […]

Cleaning Products Maker Facing $194K Fine for Amputation

Green Bay, Wisconsin, household cleaning products manufacturer Tufco LP faces $194,518 in proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties after an employee’s fingertip was amputated in an August 2023 accident, the agency announced February 9. OSHA cited the employer with one repeat, four serious, and two other-than-serious violations. Investigators found that an employee’s fingertip […]

Atlanta’s Curious and Complex ‘Cop City’ Project

An ongoing controversial construction project in Atlanta for a new training facility for fire and police personnel—nicknamed “Cop City”—highlights what some have characterized as “complicit” actions by the federal government. These allegations are the result of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) removal of a “streamgauge” that measured sediment pollution levels at a creek near the […]

Wisconsin Mill Agrees to Pay $1.8 Million OSHA Fine

Cambria, Wisconsin, corn milling company Didion Milling Inc. agreed to pay $1.8 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) penalties related to a May 31, 2017, dust explosion that killed five workers and injured more than a dozen others, OSHA announced December 14. In a related criminal case, company Vice President of Operations Derrick […]

OSHA Cites Illinois Roofer a Sixth Time

Ricardo Gallardo, a Palatine, Illinois, roofer, has been cited for the fifth and sixth time by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for fall protection violations, the agency announced December 12. Twice within a month, federal workplace safety inspectors found that Gallardo, doing business as R&R Construction Services Inc., didn’t provide roofing employees with […]

Faces of EHS: Ahmed Al-Bayati on Construction and Prevention Through Design

Dr. Ahmed Al-Bayati is the founding director of the Construction Safety Research Center (CSRC) and an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Lawrence Technological University. He conducts research on construction safety, including safety culture and incident investigation, as well as underground utility management, to optimize the construction process and reduce occupational injuries and […]

Safety Groups Honor Port of Portland’s Prevention Efforts

The Port of Portland received the third annual Prevention through Design (PtD) Award at the National Safety Council’s (NSC) Safety Congress & Expo in New Orleans, the NSC announced October 23. The Port of Portland, which operates Portland International Airport, was recognized for an integrated safety design process used during the airport’s Parking and Rental […]