OSHA’s Construction Safety Regulations
Introduction: OSHA’s Construction Safety Regulations
The construction industry tops the list when it comes to workplace injuries and fatalities, even with tightened safety regulations over the years. Workers in the transportation/material moving, construction, and extraction industries accounted for nearly half (47.4%) of fatal occupational injuries in 2020, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).
Many of these deaths resulted from what OSHA calls the “Fatal Four” construction hazards. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries presented the following statistics on Fatal Four events across all occupations:
| Falls 850 | Up from 805 in 2020 |
| Struck by object or equipment: 473 | Up from 468 in 2020 |
| Electrocution: 152 | Up from 126 in 2020 |
| Caught in/between: 143 | Up from 142 in 2020 |
With the death toll among construction occupations stemming largely from noncompliance with safety regulations, OSHA has committed itself to minimizing these fatalities, partly by ramping up its penalty fees.
In 2023, OSHA’s maximum penalties for serious and other-than-serious violations (with “other than serious” referring to a violation that causes injury but not death) increased from $14,502 to $15,625 per violation. The maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations (defined as those that risk employee health or safety) increased from $145,027 per violation to $156,259 per violation. In the tragic event that an employee’s life is lost, violations become criminal offenses and can carry fines of up to half a million dollars.
From electricians to pipefitters, construction workers of every stripe need to know their helmets from their high-impact boots. Most are aware of the risks and appreciate an employer who puts worker safety at the top of the priority list. It’s good for morale and productivity, and it’s the only way to shore up your profit line.
The bottom line? A safe workplace saves lives and saves money.
This eBook walks you through the most common (and costly) hazards in the construction industry. It provides budget-friendly tips and strategies so you can manage and stay ahead of the requirements.
What You’ll Learn:
- Information about frequently cited violations
- How to prevent the most common hazards
- Methods and tools to help you comply with inefficient, budget-friendly ways
Chapter 1: Prioritize the Most Common Construction Hazards
Construction sites are full of hazards, from improperly used nail guns to dangerous materials like silica and asbestos lurking in old structures. While you can’t dismiss a single safety aspect on your site, you need to use your time wisely — and prioritize the hazards that cause the most harm. Read on for tips to help you stay on top of the Fatal Four.
Falls
Over the past few years, fall prevention has been a top focus area of OSHA. It’s not surprising, given that falls cause more fatal and nonfatal injuries than any other safety hazard. In fact, falls from elevations composed about 13% of all fatal workplace injuries in 2021.
As a result, OSHA has launched major initiatives to raise awareness about injuries and deaths by falls — most of which are entirely preventable.
One initiative is the National Safety Stand-Down, an annual event that started in 2014. The first Safety Stand-Down reached more than 1 million construction workers, who set aside time during the work day to learn about fall hazards and prevention.
How does it work?
“Companies can conduct a Safety Stand-Down by taking a break to have a toolbox talk or another safety activity, such as conducting safety equipment inspections, developing rescue plans, or discussing job-specific hazards,” OSHA explains on its website. Employers who participate then provide feedback to an OSHA forum and earn a Certificate of Participation.
Taking part in a Stand-Down will not only help you improve your safety measures but also send the message to your workers that you care about their health and well-being. This message is crucial and can go a long way in helping your workers take extra precautions to follow safety protocols.
Want to hold your own Safety Stand-Down event? Prepare with these three sources from OSHA:
- Resources to Prepare for a Successful Stand-Down
- Stand-Down Frequently Asked Questions
- Highlights From Past National Safety Stand-Downs
Other ways to prevent falls
Of course, participating in a Stand-Down isn’t the only way to prevent falls. It’s critical to evaluate your entire workplace. When you do, pay special attention to the most common causes of fall-related injuries:
- Unprotected sides, wall openings, and floor holes
- Improper scaffold construction
- An unguarded protruding steel rebar
- Misuse of portable ladders
Create a fall-protection policy and train employees to set up and always use the proper fall-arrest and fall-protection systems. For more in-depth resources on fall prevention, OSHA has many educational and training resources to help you learn more.
Struck-By Hazards
“Struck-by hazards” aren’t always obvious. Many are hidden, making them easy to overlook. While working high on scaffolds, for instance, the risks are more obvious than while walking across the work site after a shift — a prime time for “struck-by” accidents to occur.
Three-fourths of all fatalities in this category involve heavy equipment like trucks or cranes. Other common causes of struck-by injuries include falling or flying objects and constructing masonry walls.
When are workers at risk?
Workers are at risk anytime work is being performed overhead, whether on a scaffold or crane; anytime they’re around power tools or other equipment that can emit a flying, falling, swinging, or rolling object, such as a nail gun or chipper; and anytime they’re in the line of vehicles or traffic.
To prevent struck-by hazard injuries, adhere to what OSHA considers basic safety measures in this area:
- Wear hardhats
- Stack materials and secure tools to prevent them from sliding, falling, or collapsing
- Use protective measures such as toeboards and debris nets
- Wear safety goggles, glasses, or face shields
- Inspect your tools and all components of your equipment regularly
- Ensure that all workers have proper tool training
- Avoid working beneath loads being moved by a crane
- Post warning signs and set up barricades around all hazard areas
- Do not exceed lifting capacity on cranes
In addition, familiarizing yourself with struck-by-hazard examples and protections can help you avoid common hazards in your workplace that you might not otherwise consider.
Electrical Hazards
Working with electricity is complicated, so stories abound about electricity-related accidents on construction sites — and the enormous penalty fees and damaging lawsuits that follow.
Each year, an estimated 350 people die from an electrical-related injury. Electrical hazards on construction sites can cause shock, explosions, and traumatic injuries like burns, and electrocution. Often, electrical work takes place in elevated environments (e.g., cranes, scissor lifts, cherry pickers), so it comes with the added risk of falls.
As new technologies emerge and change how we use electricity, the job of electricians is growing more challenging. Electricians have to read and interpret mechanical drawings and electrical specifications; form and test circuits; pull wires through conduits; install fiber-optic systems; and more. The complexity of the work makes ongoing electrical training and assessment a core part of any safety program.
OSHA makes it clear that workers can’t be anywhere near an electrical circuit unless properly protected. The most common causes of electrical injury include:
- Contact with power lines
- Lack of ground-fault protection
- Missing or discontinuous path to ground
- Improper equipment usage
- Improper extension cord use
To avoid putting your employees at unnecessary risk, make sure they all understand the basics of how electricity works.
For a quick overview of how to prevent the most common causes of electrical injury, OSHA’s e-learning tool for construction breaks down dense information in clear ways. Also, bookmark and become a regular reader of EC&M (Electrical Construction and Maintenance), a publication that provides up-to-the-minute electricity-related news, safety guides, tips, and some fun quizzes (like this one on metal conduit grounding) to keep your skills sharp.
Each year, an estimated 350 people die from an electrical-related injury.
Caught-In/Between Hazards
Caught-in/between hazards makes us cringe. They involve being pinned between heavy Equipment, machinery, and materials — essentially any kind of moveable or immovable object that causes employees to get pinched, squeezed, suffocated, or crushed.
You want to do everything you can to prevent caught-in/between accidents, which are among the most gruesome of construction site tragedies. They involve horrific things like trapping a body part in a machine rotator; being smothered under the soil as a result of a cave-in; getting crushed between a semi-trailer and a dock wall; or drowning in sewage that wasn’t properly diverted or controlled.
Common causes of these types of incidents include the use of improperly guarded heavy equipment, machines, or power tools. Situations, where a piece of heavy equipment has rolled over and puts an operator at risk, fall into this classification as well. Any vehicle using a rollover protective structure (ROPS)—such as earth movers, pickup trucks, and dump trucks—is typically subject to regulations specific to these kinds of hazards.
Excavation sites and trenches where soil tends to be unsteady pose high risks for caught-in/ between accidents. Excessive rain, heavy wind, or even vibration from trucks and equipment at the construction site can increase the risk at these sites by making the ground prone to shifting.
You can prevent a caught-in-between tragedy at your construction site with these tips and more from GoContractor:
- Identify the hazards on your site that present risks.
- Provide workers with the proper personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Inspect and maintain all of your equipment regularly.
- Never use equipment without ensuring that all safety guards are in place
- Avoid loose clothing, which can get caught in equipment
- Maintain a safe distance from machinery that you’re not operating, and stay outside of the swing radius of equipment
- Make sure the operator can see you at all times
- Use barricades and warning signs
- Keep a safe distance when materials are being moved overhead
Of course, preventing caught-in/between accidents varies by worksite. It’s up to you as an employer to put a solid prevention plan in place.
Chapter 2: Stay on Top of Regulations
There’s plenty to pay attention to with the Fatal Four safety hazards alone. This complete list of the most commonly violated OSHA standards includes additional areas you will need to assess and stay on top of, from machine guarding and respiratory protection to hazard communication.
Knowing and abiding by every risk relevant to your work presents a serious challenge, but the high safety stakes and legal ramifications make compliance mandatory. These tips can help you ensure compliance:
1. Utilize the Federal Register
Keep up with OSHA regulations by checking the Federal Register, which publishes standards as they are adopted, along with any corrections, insertions, deletions, and amendments. Sign up for an annual subscription through the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
2. Set up a safety steering committee
You want to involve and use your staff in your safety program as much as you can. One way is to create a “safety steering committee” made up of your employees. Consider excluding anyone in a supervisory or managerial role from joining the committee, and limit it to your hourly employees.
This gives your hourly employees a chance to voice safety-related concerns and ask for clarification on safety matters. Have them meet regularly as a group to discuss safety and contribute ideas for improving your overall safety program.
3. Get organized
Keeping up with OSHA regulations and training your employees to follow suit involves many steps and is time-consuming. Given the broad range of areas to track and protocols to implement, it’s not uncommon for something to fall through the cracks.
Treat your safety program like you treat your operations. If your construction company is small to mid-sized, print out a copy of OSHA’s Small Business Handbook. It’s full of practical, budget-friendly strategies that can help you comply without breaking the bank. It also includes handy templates and forms—such as self-inspection checklists and an action plan worksheet—to help you take a systematic, organized approach.
While the OSHA Small Business Handbook is useful in many ways, it lacks advice on what technologies and tools can streamline your approach to compliance. The forms provided in the handbook are all paper-based, and as the next part of this eBook explains, there are far more efficient and effective ways to track and manage safety.
Chapter 3: Embrace Technology to Make Compliance Easler
Today, technological innovations have emerged to help construction professionals keep up with relevant OSHA regulations more efficiently. Tech-savvy employers and workers are using specialized mobile forms on their tablets and smartphones to address and meet safety protocols. The forms are essentially mobile versions of the old paper forms used to track compliance, but they come with far greater uses.
A supervisor might, for example, use a mobile fall protection checklist to review and answer questions about guardrails and confirm that they’re in place or to find out whether personal fall arrest systems need to be in use. Similar forms exist for electrical safety considerations, rollover protective structures, and everything from cranes and conveyors to concrete.
Make a case for change
Whatever the construction job type, equipment, and work environment, there’s a good chance you’ll find a mobile form built to make OSHA compliance easier to manage—but your team may need some help making the switch. According to the 2021 JBKnowledge Construction Technology Report:
- Respondents reported spending only 1% of their annual sales volume on IT.
- More than 90% of respondents reported using smartphones for work on a daily basis.
- Construction companies most commonly use mobile devices in the field for daily reporting, taking photos/videos, time management, and safety management.
“Some may argue that construction is a low-margin industry so there isn’t money to invest in IT,” the report noted. “The truth of the matter is: It is a low-margin industry because of the lack of investment in innovations and IT. Many contractors see double digits in profit increase because of their investment in technology.”
When paired with cloud-based platforms, mobile forms make it remarkably simple to collect data, control transactions, and manage business practices.
In general, the construction industry has been reluctant to embrace the benefits of IT. However, builders are now beginning to be dragged into the 21st century by the need to collaborate more closely with their more IT-savvy colleagues, the architects, and engineers responsible for the ideas behind their work.
Another positive effect of moving your business information to mobile is the serious reduction in paperwork. Consider, for example, the traditional way of managing OSHA compliance, which involves reviewing regulations, working up paper checklists, and making and circulating copies to the right people. All it takes is for one person to forget their copy of a required form, and your compliance process could be delayed by days.
Give everyone access to shared documents and checklists via their smartphones, and see how much faster and smoother the compliance process goes. Saving time means saving money — and that’s a plus in any economy.
Don’t let compliance slip
The reason for OSHA’s many compliance guidelines boils down to this: keeping your workers safe. No company wants to invite the injury or death of an employee to incur fines and penalties or be taken to court.
Don’t be intimidated by the need to keep up with regulations or the demands of creating an effective safety program. Use mobile technology to ease the burden and take your safety program to a new level.
GoCanvas offers hundreds of mobile forms created by and for construction workers and designed specifically with OSHA regulations in mind. To learn more, request a demo today.
Ready to Rethink How You Work?
GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their safety processes and rethink their efficiency, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.
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