Dive Brief:

• Falls remain a major source of injuries and deaths in the construction industry, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is hoping employers will hold safety stand-downs at job sites in an effort to raise workers' awareness on how to protect themselves.
• The agency has designated the week of June 2-6 in an effort to encourage "toolbox talks" aimed at topics such as "ladder safety, fall protection equipment, or scaffolds safety."
• OSHA said data from 2012, the last year with complete information, show that falls killed 269 of the 775 workers who died on job sites that year.

Dive Insight:

OSHA's call comes in the wake of several recent reports of workers dying in falls, including two who fell at projects on busy streets in midtown Manhattan in New York City. Deaths during construction of soccer venues in Brazil for the World Cup soccer tournament this year also have brought media attention to the topic.