The Associated General Contractors of America is conducting a new study to make job sites safer and search for ways to lower the number of injuries and deaths in the construction industry.
The study will attempt to identify reasons for the 806 fatalities reported nationwide in 2012. The objective is to find common threads in these incidents that can lead to better safety standards.
The study comes on the heels of the release of new federal safety data showing that construction industry and fatalities rates have declined in several states. For example, Texas had a construction injury rate of 4.4 incidents per 100 workers in 2003, a statistic that decreased to 2.3 incidents per 100 workers in 2012. Fatality rates in Texas have also declined — going from 13.1 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2008, to 12.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2012.
AGC intends to share the study's results with its members, the Occupational Health & Safety Administration, and others.
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