‘Workers end up paying the price’: laborers call for safer building sites
Falls, slips and trips accounted for 865 worker fatalities in 2022 – more than 400 of whom worked in construction
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More than 450,000 workers were injured by falls, slips and trips in 2021 and 2022, according to official data, with 865 fatalities recorded in 2022 alone. Of those who died, more than 400 were construction workers, according to the Center for Construction Research and Training.
Employers are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) to protect workers from falls on the job, by providing guardrails, harnesses, scaffolding and personal safety gear when necessary, and provide training to workers.
“Construction is a dangerous industry, but falls are preventable, 100%,” said Ryan Papariello, safety and health specialist at the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America. “We know how to prevent these incidents.”
But in many cases where injuries and fatalities of workers occur, basic Osha protections are not being followed, or implemented at all.
