Construction projects are worked on year-round in the state of Pennsylvania. Depending on the type of construction being completed a variety of different types of risks exist for those who work at the sites. One of those risks is the risk of falling. Workers could potentially fall from a variety of things including scaffolds, ladders and roofs.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is charged with, among other things, creating safety guidelines for businesses to follow. Recognizing falls on construction sites are an issue OSHA, along with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) – Construction Sector, have outlined ways in which workplace injuries or even death due to falls could be avoided. The information they provide is relevant to employers of construction workers since falls on job sites could lead to workers' compensation claims being filed.

The first thing employers of construction workers should do is to create a plan for each project including the steps that will ensure that each piece is done in a safe manner. Creating a plan will make it possible for those safety measures to be budgeted for when the financial piece is put together. How much the safety precautions will cost depends on the work being completed.

The next thing construction companies should do is make sure that their workers have access to equipment that will keep them safe as they work. These items may include:

• Scaffolds
• Ladders
• Safety gear such as personal fall arrest systems, also referred to as PFAs

This equipment should be kept in good repair so that it will not fail.

While it is of course important that safety equipment is available, if workers do not know how to properly use the equipment, it is of little help and could even pose additional risks.

Despite the efforts of OSHA and NORA, construction workers are nonetheless injured in falls at their jobsites all too often. When those injuries make it impossible for them to immediately return to work it is possible that the injured worker could seek workers' compensation benefits.

Source: OSHA.org, "Welcome to OSHA's Fall Prevention Campaign," Nov. 7, 2013