It's National Safety Stand-Down week, and we're recognizing the importance of focusing on preventing falls in construction at our own jobsites.
“The
National Safety Stand-Down raises fall hazard awareness across the country in an effort to stop fall fatalities and injuries." According to
Bureau of Labor Statistics information, it's an important effort. The government agency's 2015 data revealed the following:
- nearly 1 in 4 fatal falls in construction involve ladders
- falls account for 37% of deaths in construction
- over 1 in 3 fatal falls in construction happen from 15 feet or less
- construction workers suffered 350 fatal falls in 1 year
Stand-Down for Safety provides an opportunity for leadership to speak with associates about safety and reinforce the Safety First message. This year, events are being held at the following job sites:
- 365 Nicollet (Minneapolis)
- MoZaic East (Minneapolis)
- The Loden (Edina, Minn.)
- North Star Sheets at Southeast Industrial Park (Cottage Grove, Minn.)
- Ebenezer's Crest Ridge Senior Living (Minnetonka, Minn.)
- Cargill Protein Group HQ (Wichita, Kan.)
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Student Housing (Champaign, Ill.)
- 100 N Addison Luxury Apartments (Elmhurst, Ill.)
- CSF Iowa Air National Guard (Sioux City, Iowa)
- Northwestern College Health and Natural Sciences Building (Orange City, Iowa)
Our Stand-Down for Safety events include demonstrations of safety equipment and tool box talks by our own leadership and industry leaders.
“This is an important opportunity to stop work and talk about how all workers can remain safe. Repetition of the message is key to keeping people safe on the job site," said Andy Smoka, director of safety management for ODB. “This is our seventh year participating in the voluntary event. We're going to continue to be out there each year."
This event comes as our commitment to Safety First has been acknowledged with our fifth MNSHARP Construction Certification and third Minnesota Laborers-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust (LECET) Safety Driven Award of Excellence.
At Opus, the safety of our associates and the general public is a priority on all of our projects. Promoting a safe work environment is an important part of our corporate culture. Learn more.