Along with most industry professionals, here at American Contractors Organization, we try to keep up with the most recent and relevant industry news on a daily basis.
There are a number of news outlets that we keep an eye on, in order to better serve our members and tailor our services towards their needs. News sources such as SUNNews and OSHA’s news portal, are pretty reliable sources for news articles in the construction industry.
Well, while in the midst of browsing the daily articles, I started noticing a disturbing trend. As I went page to page, I came across the following articles:
- Public Works Employee Dies After Being Struck By Vehicle
- KY Coal Miner Killed by Moving Roller
- Worker Killed in Forklift Accident
- 19-Year-Old Female Worker Killed in Construction Accident
- Worker Killed in Mall Accident
- 1 Killed, 1 Injured in Construction Accident in Miami
- Construction Worker Killed After 2,500 lb Pipe Falls on Him
Are you beginning to see the trend?
As story after story about construction industry related deaths flooded my Internet browser, I began to think, “What could have been done to prevent these terrible tragedies?”. It’s possible that with some of these deaths, there wasn’t anything that could have been done. But what if, even if it were just one, a life could have been saved?
As a business owner, one might stop and think, that’s a liability concern for my company. But as a human-being, we should be thinking, “That’s a friend, a coworker, who won’t be going home tonight to their family.”
Now we all know that there are policies, laws and industry standards put into place which help minimize the risk of life-threatening injuries, but these policies mean very little if they’re only met for the sake of being compliant. How can you, as a business owner, take further steps and precautions to ensure your entire crew makes it home tonight?
With proper employee training, you have the unique ability to help your crew identify, minimize and react to various hazards they might encounter on the job. Along with training, utilizing the safety checklists and procedures included with your membership, prior to starting work, can help ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
It’s time to start taking these deaths seriously by making sure we’re doing all we can, to ensure a tragic work related death doesn’t happen to someone on your crew.
Together, we can get everyone home safely tonight.
