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OSHA launches regional campaign on ‘Focus Four’ construction hazards

construction falls
Photo: OSHA

Philadelphia — To help raise awareness of the four leading safety hazards in the construction industry, OSHA is launching its Focus Four Hazards campaign for Region 3, the agency announced March 9.

The campaign runs from March through June. Each month, OSHA representatives will conduct toolbox talks on each hazard – electrocution, falls, struck-by, and caught-in or caught-between – with construction employers and workers in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington. The representatives will review hazard recognition, evaluation and control.

Also known as the “Fatal Four,” the hazards accounted for 63.7 percent of all construction-related deaths in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Falls topped the list at 38.7 percent, followed by struck-by (9.4 percent), electrocution (8.3 percent) and caught-in or between (7.3 percent). In fiscal year 2017, violations related to the “Focus Four Hazards” occupied seven spots on OSHA’s “Top 10” list of most-cited violations.

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