10/25/2021—The construction industry in the United States employs many workers, with 11.4 million employees in 2019 alone. The industry is projected to grow 7% from 2020 to 2030.2 As construction grows, falls remain one of the main safety issues, accounting for more than one in three (36.4%) of fatalities in the industry.1 In 2019, falls made up over 32% of non-fatal injuries resulting in days away from work (DFW).3 Not only are falls dangerous, but costly when with medical and workers’ compensation. In fact, it is estimated that falls cost up to $70 billion annually in the U.S. Therefore, it is essential to provide construction employees with fall protection and proper training, which can possibly save employers exponentially on costs, but more importantly protect the health and wellbeing of their workforce.
Fall prevention encompasses many aspects, and proper training is one. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), every worker needs to be trained on proper set-up and safe use of equipment they use on the job. This can include many things like proper ladder setup, scaffolding setup and guardrail installation and use. CoRe Connect Resources’ smart badge and data analytics provides real-time views of each employee’s training records, allowing safety administrators to ensure that whoever is working on the job site is properly trained to do so.
Construction sites are complex, with zoned areas for specific jobs and employees. A controlled access zone is an area in which certain work may take place without the use of guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems, or safety net systems, and access to the zone is controlled.5 Anyone not authorized to enter a restricted zone can be putting themselves and others in danger, possibly leading to serious injury and costs to employers. With smart badges by CoRe, employers have real-time visibility of the job site, and badges are equipped with unauthorized zone entry alerts, letting admins know when unauthorized employees are in restricted areas.
When falls do occur on the job site, time is of the utmost importance to getting help and medical care to injured workers. Thanks to innovative new technology, like that of CoRe smart badges, fall detection is a helpful and possibly lifesaving feature. CoRe’s smart badges send alerts to safety personnel whenever a fall is detected, or an employee is idle for a determined amount of time. Badges also come with push-button SOS alerts, which can be used by employees in case of a fall. In any instance, every smart badge has BLE-enabled technology that provides admins with an employee’s location. Allowing for quick response and dispatch to areas where employees have suffered falls.
As the construction industry welcomes new workers every year, striving for the finest safety practices can save a company on injury costs and protect employees. Providing employees peace of mind, with protective technology like CoRe smart badges, assures them that their safety is top priority. It also keeps management informed of any issues occurring on the job site, with an easy plug-and-play solution that provides full and accurate job site visibility.
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1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, March 28). Construction statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/construction/statistics.html.
2 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021, September 8). Construction laborers and Helpers : Occupational Outlook Handbook. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/construction-laborers-and-helpers.htm.
3 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021, May 6). Fatal and nonfatal falls, Slips, and trips in the construction industry. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/fatal-and-nonfatal-falls-slips-and-trips-in-the-construction-industry.htm.
4 ISHN. (2019, April 16). Falls cost lost workdays and billions of dollars. ISHN RSS. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.ishn.com/articles/110607-falls-cost-lost-workdays-and-billions-of-dollars.
Department of Labor Logo United Statesdepartment of Labor. OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign | Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://www.osha.gov/stop-falls.
5 Controlled access zone OSHA requirements. W.S. Safety. (n.d.). Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://wssafety.com/posts/controlled-access-zone-osha-requirements.
