BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Capital Safety has announced the kick-off of a national, 10-day fall protection and training program, Every Worker, Every Time, which is devoted to fulfilling the company’s mission: to bring every worker at height home safely, every workday.
The Every Worker, Every Time initiative will work hand-in-hand with OSHA's National Safety Stand-Downfrom May 4-15, the second-annual campaign to save construction workers by generating awareness about how to prevent construction-related falls. Fatalities caused by falls from elevated heights continue to be a leading cause of death among construction workers, accounting for more than one-third of all fatalities each year. In 2012, 279 of the 806 deaths recorded within the construction industry resulted from fatal falls — and all were preventable.
The campaign corresponds with the start of the 2015 construction season, which is expected to be busier than ever. Dodge Data & Analytics recently released its 2015 Dodge Construction Outlook, a mainstay in construction industry forecasting and business planning, which predicts that total U.S. construction starts for 2015 will rise nine percent to $612 billion, a larger gain than the five percent increase to $564 billion estimated for 2014.
During the two-week National Safety Stand-Down campaign, employers and workers will be asked to take a break from their workdays to discuss fall protection, and attend demonstrations and trainings on how to use safety harnesses, guardrails and other means to protect workers from falls. By visiting construction sites across the United States and educating more than a million workers, OSHA and participating companies like Capital Safety hope to raise awareness about this important issue and prevent future falls within the construction industry.
“Every day in this country, construction workers fall. One wrong step, and they're tumbling down a steeply pitched roof, sliding or dropping off an unstable ladder, or left hanging from a scaffold. The difference between an unexpected stumble and tragedy is simple: fall protection,” OSHA said in a recent release announcing its second-annual National Safety Stand-Down. “Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, as hundreds of workers die each year and thousands more suffer catastrophic, debilitating injuries.”
The Every Worker, Every Time program will put 38 of Capital Safety’s fully customized fall-demonstration vehicles on the road, offering construction workers and safety managers access to equipment and fall-prevention presentations. The onsite trainings will take place in hundreds of cities nationwide, and engagement efforts will focus on enhancing awareness, education and compliance with fall-prevention measures so workers can do their jobs safely and with confidence.
“As a global leader in fall protection, Capital Safety is a solid supporter and advocate of OSHA's National Safety Stand-Down and is proud, once again, to participate in this important campaign,” said Kevin Coplan, president of Capital Safety. “Industry and business leaders — including universities, labor organizations, community and faith-based groups — have scheduled stand-downs in all 50 states and around the world, further underscoring the importance of this effort."
Capital Safety and its Every Worker, Every Time program will support the National Safety Stand-Down by relaying the message that safety pays and falls cost. Along with hands-on demonstrations, Capital Safety offers other safety resources, including eLearning videos and assistance in creating comprehensive fall-protection programs to help make compliance simple and create a safe environment on any jobsite. These components are part of the company's global training program, which features 10 training centers and more than 60 different training courses each year.
For more information, visit www.capitalsafety.com.
