Fall-related deaths and injuries in construction spur OSHA weekend inspection initiative

Denver — Deaths and serious injuries resulting from falls in the construction industry in recent years have prompted OSHA to launch an initiative to inspect worksites across Colorado’s Front Range, Montana and South Dakota on weekends, “when many employers typically do not monitor their jobsites well.”

Under the Weekend Work initiative, OSHA area offices in Denver and Englewood, CO, along with Billings, MT, and Sioux Falls, SD, will open workplace safety and health inspections on weekends in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties in Colorado; Carbon, Stillwater and Yellowstone counties in Montana; and Brookings, Lincoln, Minnehaha, Pennington and Union counties in South Dakota.

Since 2017, OSHA has investigated 10 deaths and numerous serious construction-related fall injuries in these counties. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a fall from height was responsible for 351 of the 1,008 deaths among construction workers last year.

The initiative is slated to run through the fall.

OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign website features educational materials and videos in English and Spanish aimed at teaching workers about hazards and proper safety procedures.