Beating The Construction Safety Statistics

Tragically, the construction safety statistics in the U.S

. are little short of terrifying. The recent economic downturn has done nothing but heighten our awareness of the grim reality of the nature of some unscrupulous site managers. Were not saying that accidents dont happen, or that its only the unsafe sites that experience difficulty with safety and contribute to those poor construction safety statistics, but we should all work together to make our workplace as safe as it can be for all concerned.

One of the major complaints put forward by those identifying the increasingly scary construction safety statistics is that immigrant workers seem to be the worst affected. Lets take New York, one of the busiest areas for our trade, and look at how that has affected construction safety statistics. 43 is the statistic for 2008 in New York. Thats 43 deaths in one year. Now thats pretty frightening.

Whats even more frightening is that this figure is up almost 90 percent year-on-year. Add to that the fact that almost all of those deaths were immigrant workers. Almost 90 percent of workers who die in New York are immigrant workers. Whats more, when we compare that to other industries, we come out looking like we dont give a damn about safety on-site. Manufacturing jobs caused almost 450 deaths in 2008, while miningan industry as dangerous as ourssaw over 800 deaths. How many do you think construction caused? Well its over 1,200. Thats a staggering amount. And these are fatalities. That doesn't take into account long term injury or loss of limbs.

However, one of the reasons this seems to be tolerated is because the fining system is so low for a site manager not adhering to regulations. According to New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) $1,500 is the mean fine for penalties. Thats a construction safety statistic thats probably most worrying to me. If construction safety statistics were the only thing to go by, any sensible building site worker would increase the level of safety training they receive by any means possible.

The trouble is that with so many managers looking to complete jobs quicker and for less money, the construction safety statistics suffer. There simply isnt a way for a majority of workers to stand up and be counted in respect of health and safety. In many cases its the peer pressure or need for a worker to hold onto his job that override any concerns about construction safety statistics. Thats a dreadful situation.

Just think, if its difficult for an American worker to say to his boss that his job is too dangerous, imagine just how impossible it might be for an immigrant worker. Next time you walk on site, have a look around, and just keep in mind some of those construction safety statistics.

by:Martin Sejas

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