Industry News

Crane Safe Wind Speed Weather can be a dangerous factor in construction. Conditions such as high winds pose a significant threat to cranes and other large machines and equipment. Tower cranes, especially, face a serious risk when heavy winds come. There have been several cases in which tower cranes have collapsed, or been damaged in […]

At the bottom of a fifteen foot trench, a worker asked for permission to walk away from the “trench box”- protective steel barriers that hold up the trench’s walls- to check the stormwater pipe. Although the trench box would have helped to protect the worker while in the trench, his supervisor told him yes, but […]

What is the difference between a construction worker without a hard hat, and an elevated construction worker without fall protection? There is no difference, both construction workers are putting themselves at risk of serious injury. There are several pieces of equipment used in construction that are incredibly useful, and, without them, many aspects of construction […]

Recently, a company was cited for violating a stop-work order that was placed on scaffolding. Stop-work orders are legal notices requiring employers to immediately suspend all work and business operations in a specific area. Because these notices are placed in areas that need attention and modifications, if stop-work orders are violated and/or disregarded, serious injuries […]

How many deaths does it take before a company changes its ways? How many fines must a company face, before they realize the severity of violations? For Western Sugar Cooperative, it might be over $116,000 and several injuries and deaths before they acknowledge the lack of safety in their company. Currently, the company faces about […]

It is common knowledge that accidents happen. We really can’t altogether avoid them, which is what makes them accidents. Construction is one industry in which accidents occur fairly often. Whether it is because of the type of work, the type of equipment, or the type of training which workers are exposed to, the construction industry […]

Working with heavy machinery can be very dangerous. There are certain rules and standards that need to be followed, and these standards can change with every machine and every operation. Excavators are no different, and are very dangerous pieces of equipment if not operated correctly. Ignoring any rule or standard when operating this machine could […]

What would you think the leading cause of death is in the construction industry? Equipment accidents, maybe? Or cave-ins and collapses? These are good guesses, and all very serious incidents. However, falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, accounting for nearly 40 percent of fatalities in 2014 (according to OSHA.) Fall […]

No matter where you live, what your job is, or how experienced you might be, accidents with equipment can occur at any unexpected time. Scissor lifts, for example, may seem simple and harmless. However, recently there were several fatal accidents with scissor lifts that occurred on site at facilities under construction, proving the seriousness of […]

With the recent release of OSHA’s preliminary top violations list for 2015, and with a lack of adequate fall protection and scaffolding issues landing on that list in the first and third spots, respectively, we decided to take a stroll and snap some photos of the scaffolding near us. Without fail, we found scaffold violations on virtually every […]

OSHA Top 10 Violations The 10 most frequently cited Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations are as follows: Fall protection Respiratory protection Ladders Hazard communication Scaffolding Fall protection training Lockout/Tagout Eye and face protection Powered industrial trucks Machinery and machine guarding Unfortunately, these top 10 most frequently cited violations have not changed over the […]

Take this for what it’s worth: I’m all for safety, but I am not all for the new crane laws. Simply put, we are putting too much faith in an exam, thereby diminishing the value of training. To make it clear, contrary to popular belief, 1926.1427 certification is just an exam and, yes, while it will be […]