The task of keeping workers safe on the job site isn’t an easy one. It requires negotiating the slew of rules and regulations in the industry and the nuances of different project types and worker personalities. All that activity means it's even more important to keep up to date on the major statistics, reports, rule changes and other news around construction safety.
In honor of Safety Week 2017, which runs this year from May 1 to May 5, we've taken a by-the-numbers rundown of some of the biggest construction safety stories in the last year.
4%
The increase in fatalities in the private construction industry between 2014 and 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The preliminary figures from the BLS found the number of construction workplace fatalities in 2015 was the highest since 2008.
47%
The share of construction fatalities that occur at businesses with fewer than 10 employees, according to a new, three-year construction safety study by the Associated General Contractors of America.
250
The current maximum micrograms of silica dust per cubic meter over an eight-hour period that workers can be exposed to. That figure will drop to 50 micrograms per cubic meter when OSHA begins enforcing its new silica rule for the construction industry in late September.
6,929
The number of fall-protection violations recorded in 2016 across all occupational groups, according to OSHA. Falls are the leading cause of death on construction sites.
48,000
The decrease in the total number of injuries and illnesses across all industries between 2014 and 2015, according to the BLS. Construction saw its lowest rate of such incidences since 2002 in 2015.
553,000
The number of worker lives across all industries that labor group the AFL-CIO said in its latest annual report on worker safety "have been saved" since implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.
$1.5M
The value of a fine handed down to Massachusetts contractor Atlantic Drain Service Co. in response to a fatal trench collapse in October 2016. It was the first (and so far one of just a few) OSHA announcements on its news release page publicizing citations and penalties for serious workplace safety violations issued by the department under the Trump administration, which has indicated it will avoid taking a "shaming" approach to announcing violations.