National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction event set for May

Prepare now with OSHA resources for employers offered in multiple languages

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will hold its eighth annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction the week of May 3-7.

All industries engaged in construction work are encouraged to take part to raise awareness of the hazards and provide training for their personnel.

“Workers suffer serious and fatal injuries from falls and have a devastating impact on families and businesses,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health James Frederick said in a prepared statement. “This important collaboration with the construction industry encourages employers to learn how to better control fall-related hazards and improve their safety and health programs.”

OSHA started the effort in 2014 and has seen nearly 10 million workers trained since then.

Employers can start preparations now utilizing OSHA resources including a webpage dedicated to the National Safety Stand-Down. It is encouraging people to help spread the word on social media using the phrase #StandDown4Safety and offers a page with infographics that can be downloaded and used for training, distribution to workers and on social media. Materials are in multiple languages.