U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that falls are the leading cause of construction fatalities, killing more than 300 Hispanic construction workers every year. Hilario Martinez, an experienced framing contractor in Norcross, Ga., had the misfortune of watching his own brother injured during a fall. “It was an ugly accident. He was working on a roof trussing system and all the trusses fell on him. He broke his leg but he is okay,” Martinez remembers. “Now I don’t want to see other guys get hurt. There are a lot of requirements for fall protection, and I’ve sent 12 of my guys to be OSHA-trained. In addition, we have one person on each crew watching out for safety.” Martinez is right to be concerned about accidental falls. According to OSHA—the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration—Hispanics make up 25 percent of the construction workforce but account for 80 percent of the falls. There can be a large learning curve for workers entering the construction field from other industries—and other countries. “Some of our people are farmers originally, and they are not aware of construction safety rules,” says Martinez. Rushing contributes to accidents, he adds: “Most falls occur because people are trying to get a job done quickly. I prefer to make less money and have everyone safe.” Fall-Protection Guidelines Framers new to the industry may not be aware of OSHA’s fall-protection guidelines, which require that workers who could fall 6 feet or more be protected by guardrail systems, safety nets or personal fall-arrest devices. These rules apply to unprotected sides or edges on walking or working surfaces, or for leading edges of 6 feet or more. Guillermo Mendoza of Manassas, Va.-based Ace Carpentry agrees that keeping framing crews safe is a challenging but essential priority. Originally from El Salvador, Mendoza is now subcontractor scheduling coordinator at Ace, which has more than 500 employees and as many as 35 framing crews in the field on any given day. Over three-quarters of the workforce is Hispanic or Latino. It is Mendoza’s job to ensure that all subs hired complete a training program and comply fully with OSHA regulations. “Before we hire any subcontractors we tell them they have to be secure on the job site,” Mendoza explains. “When somebody gets hurt on the job, it’s a lot of trouble for everyone.” Yet encouraging compliance takes time. Ken Shifflett, president of Ace Carpentry, admits that becoming OSHA-compliant was a challenge for his company. “The first year we incorporated the OSHA guidelines, we had the hardest time getting guys to wear fall protection,” he says. “The crews perceived all the ropes on the roof as a tripping hazard. It took about a year to get people really up to speed on how to use them. Now our crews have 100-percent compliance for wearing ropes and harnesses for sheathing and truss work. Why Framers Fall Why is it that so many framers fall? “Stepping in holes, off edges, through skylights, is responsible for many fall-related deaths,” says fall-protection expert Nigel Ellis of Ellis Fall Safety Solutions, Wilmington, Del. For safe job sites, guardrails should be used around openings in floors and across openings in walls. Top rails must withstand a 200-pound load and should be about 42 inches high with a midrail at half that height. All floor openings larger than 2 inches square should be covered with material strong enough to support the working load. Mistakes with fall-protection equipment also put a lot of workers at risk. Ellis notes that sometimes the cheapest devices are the most difficult to use safely. For example, rope-grab systems may have so much slack rope that hitting the ground is inevitable before the protective device has a chance to operate. More expensive self-retracting lines provide a useful alternative because they take up the slack automatically when the user pulls away, so busy contractors don’t have to remember to make the rope taut. Tripping causes a lot of falls as well. Ellis notes that workers can trip on anything more than ¼-inch thick, and holes that are covered loosely can be more dangerous than holes that aren’t covered at all. Neither is acceptable at a job site. Ellis recalls one incident that occurred while workers were constructing wood scaffolding at a power plant undergoing renovations. A painter asked to have a hole covered that was allowing sawdust to spray on fresh paint below. The hole was temporarily covered with ¼-inch plywood and promptly forgotten—and left that way for the next six months. When it came time to dismantle the scaffolding, a worker removing the last piece of wood stepped on the plywood cover and fell 35 feet. Eliminating Hazards To protect against fall hazards most effectively, the best policy is to eliminate any workplace hazards from the start. A good fall-protection plan will help minimize the chances that protective equipment will be the only line of defense. Ellis points out that all training should be site specific. He recommends that qualified contractors hold meetings every shift reviewing work to be done, and pointing out when new hazards occur. Experienced builders and safety experts agree it is best to hire a professional safety consultant. Yet not all small firms can easily afford the investment. OSHA’s Susan Harwood Training Grants make fall-protection training accessible to a larger percentage of the Hispanic community. As a part of this program, The National Association of Home Builders will be offering free classes in fall protection to 1,500 small-business owners. Plus there’s a ton of free information online to keep builders and their crews safe (see box). And just like on the job site, safety advice and best practices take more than just awareness; they demand skilled craftspeople to turn words into action. Ladder Safety When working with ladders, the following safety rules can save time—and lives. - A non-self-supporting ladder must extend at least 3 feet above the top support point for access to a roof or other work level. - Electrical wires must be eliminated from all overhead work space. - Traffic cones or other barriers should be used to protect the base of the ladder if vehicles or pedestrians could strike it. - All non-self-supporting ladders must be properly angled. The length of the side rails from the ladder’s base to the top support points (the working length) should be four times the distance from the ladder’s base to the structure (the setback distance). Done correctly, this results in a 4:1 angle of set-up. Source: OSHA Fall Safety References These web addresses link to Spanish-language job-site safety resources: - National Association of Home Builders. A new job site safety video in Spanish. www.builderbooks.com - OSHA’s Spanish-language website. www.osha.gov/as/opa/spanish/index.html - Oregon’s OSHA. Reference information and a Spanish-English glossary of health and safety terms. www.orosha.org/espanol.html