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05.05.2016

Faith Technologies Partners with OSHA for National Safety Stand-Down 2016

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) third annual National Safety Stand-Down is taking place this week, May 2-6. The purpose of the stand-down is to raise awareness about fall hazards in the construction industry. OSHA is partnering with several private and public sector groups and organizations to remind and educate construction workers about the serious dangers of falls.

The leading cause of fatalities in construction continues to be falls from elevation, accounting for 337 of the 874 construction fatalities recorded in 2014 (BLS preliminary data). Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) preliminary report for 2014 further states that falls from heights of 6 to 15 feet accounted for 27% of all fatal falls in 2014, in all industries. Roofers had the fourth highest fatal work injury rate (46.2 fatalities per 100,000 full time equivalent workers), followed by structural iron and steel workers with 25.2 fatalities per 100,000 full time equivalent workers. These stats accounted for all industries and not limited to construction (2014 preliminary BLS report).

Taking these grim statistics into consideration, OSHA and other stakeholders are using the National Stand-Down campaign to reach out to millions of employers and workers to discuss, demonstrate, and train on how to recognize and prevent fall hazards. After having a successful campaign last year, that reached more than 2.5 million workers, OSHA’s goal this year is to engage about five million workers which means reaching out to more than half of construction workers in the country. However, OSHA is not limiting the participation to only construction workers. Every industry is welcome to participate. In fact, over the past two years, participants have included construction companies, trade associations, general industry companies, the U.S military, safety equipment manufacturers, and more.

Faith Technologies being one of the largest electrical contractors in the country has actively participated in the National Stand-Down for the past two years and this year won’t be different. In Kansas City, Faith is partnering with McCown-Gordon Construction, OSHA, and the Kansas and Missouri Departments of Labor to host an event where statements will be made by representatives from all organizations involved. At a project in Olathe, Kansas, Faith is also partnering with Holder Construction to host an event on site which includes a “drop test” demonstration to emphasize the force that is applied to the body in a fall. Other Faith projects in the Kansas and Missouri areas are encouraged to stop work for a few minutes during this period to discuss fall prevention and protections.

Faith’s regional offices in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma will also be participating in Stand-Down activities on various projects. Our safety department has developed numerous “Tool Box Talks” on fall prevention and protection topics that we are sending out to employees for discussions on jobsites. A quiz will be included in these discussions and employees are encouraged and rewarded for completing the quiz.

Faith Technologies believes that the company’s greatest assets are its employees and strives for safety excellence in our daily business activities. We believe that one way we can achieve our goal of safety excellence is by participating in this year’s Nation Safety Stand-Down that will focus on saving lives by preventing falls.