Falls from heights continue to be the leading cause of death and serious injury for the roofing industry and the construction industry. According to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 353 construction workers died from falls from heights that year, and the fall-protection standard continues to be one of the most frequently cited standards by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Why do falls continue to occur with such frequency despite being preventable? CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training recently released findings from a survey it conducted in the construction industry regarding the underlying causes of falls from heights.
The survey revealed several key findings and cited lack of planning, lack of rescue training and failure to use fall-protection equipment as some of the primary underlying causes of falls from heights. In addition, respondents who believed fall protection was required by their employer were much more likely to use fall-protection equipment compared with those who did not believe it was an employer requirement.
The goal of the survey was to increase understanding of underlying causes while also informing voluntary standards through ANSI/ASSP; create more targeted resources and materials to support the national fall-prevention campaign and stand-down; improve outreach and education; influence future research regarding fall safety; and improve collective fall-prevention efforts by safety and health organizations, industry representatives, governments officials and other interested parties through the sharing of data.
NRCA and CPWR continue to foster their longstanding partnership to improve the safety and health of roofing workers and the construction industry.
NRCA will be conducting its next Fall Protection Competent Person Training course Dec. 6-8. For more information, contact Janice Davis at jdavis@nrca.net.
For additional information regarding NRCA’s fall-prevention resources and training, contact Rich Trewyn at rtrewyn@nrca.net.
