Rules + Regs

OSHA launches Severe Injury Report dashboard


The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released the Severe Injury Report dashboard, an online tool that allows users to search its severe injury report database and view trends related to workplace injuries occurring in states covered by federal OSHA.

According to OSHA, users can search and download data by year, industry, state, establishment name and Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System codes. The dashboard includes information about all severe injuries reported by employers covered under federal OSHA since 2015.

OSHA is encouraging workers and employers to use the dashboard to learn how severe injuries happen in their industries and use the agency’s available resources to help prevent workplace injuries. More information about OSHA’s severe injury report data and the severe injury reporting requirement is available at osha.gov/severeinjury.

Contractor faces proposed $144,505 in penalties after exposing workers to falls

GL Construction of Madison LLC, Sun Prairie, Wis., was again found exposing workers to fall hazards during a federal safety inspection in February, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The company has a history of federal safety failures, including violations that led to an employee’s fatal injuries in 2022. The company is not an NRCA member.

OSHA compliance officers opened their inspection after observing six employees of GL Construction of Madison at a Verona, Wis., residential construction site doing framing work up to 12 feet off the ground without required protective equipment.

OSHA issued citations for one willful, two repeat and five serious violations and proposed $144,505 in penalties.

The willful and repeat violations relate to similar safety failures OSHA found during its investigation of the April 2022 fatality of a GL Construction of Madison employee struck by a more than 1,000-pound wall that tipped over as a work crew tried to use a crane to lift the structure in high winds. OSHA cited the company for nine serious and two other-than-serious violations for that incident.

Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. NRCA’s classes, webinars and products offer information to ensure you properly train your employees and can keep them safe. Visit shop.nrca.net for more information.

CPWR offers tips on nanomaterial exposure control


CPWR–The Center for Construction Research and Training has published a fact sheet detailing how to protect workers handling products containing nanomaterials.

Nanomaterials feature at least one dimension that is smaller than 100 nanometers. The center notes nearly 1,000 commercial construction products, including cement, adhesives, paints and coatings, contain engineered nanomaterials.

Although nanomaterials are shown to improve the performance of products, the dust or mist produced when materials are cut, sanded or sprayed may be ingested or enter openings in the skin.

“Workers sometimes worry these small particles will slip through filters or respirator cartridges,” CPWR states in the fact sheet. “That isn’t the case if the filters and respirator cartridges are used correctly.”

The organization also recommends local exhaust ventilation or wet methods, and amending work methods to help control bystander exposures.

CPWR adds that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s updated standard for hazard communication “should improve” safety data sheets for nanomaterials “by requiring manufacturers to disclose information about particle characteristics, such as particle size.”

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