Training for Better Worker Safety in High Rise Construction Operations

There is a “fatal four” in the construction industry. That fatal four consists of four common types of construction accidents that lead to the largest number of deaths among construction workers. Falls from heights and being struck by other objects (such as steel support beams being hoisted by a crane) are just two of the fatal four.

Due to the hazards involved, the incidence of these accidents is concentrated in high-rise construction operations involving the use of cranes to erect steel-framed structures. OSHA has responded to the large number of deadly and incapacitating work accidents over the years in the industry by promulgating a series of rules designed to help ensure safety for U.S. workers involved in erecting steel structures. Our Texas work injury lawyers emphasize that a strong component of that worksite safety is thorough worker training.

OSHA regulations require the sensible precaution that only qualified personnel provide the necessary training. The rules specify training for workers exposed to:

FALL HAZARDS: These workers must be trained to recognize and identify fall hazards in the work area (with an eye to avoiding those hazards).

• They must also receive instruction in the proper use and operation of protective systems like personal fall arrest systems, guardrail systems, fall restraint systems, positioning device systems, and other protective systems that will be sued on the job.

• The workers must be trained in the correct procedures for erecting, maintaining, disassembling, and inspecting the fall protection systems they use.

• They also must learn the OSHA fall protection requirements of 29 CFR 1926.761(b)(5) and the procedures for protection from accidental falls down to lower levels and into holes and openings in the walking working surfaces and walls. Click here to read more about worker fall protection.

SPECIAL WORKER TRAINING: OSHA also specifies special training for workers involved in the hazardous activities of multiple lift rigging operation, connecting, and work in controlled decking zones (see 29 CFR 1926.761(c)(1) through (3)).

Contact the Texas Work Injury Lawyers at Denena Points, PC to Report a Serious Injury or Fatal Accident from Hazardous Construction Operations

Our Texas work injury lawyers recognize that construction can be one of the most hazardous occupations in the state. Structures need to go up fast and rapid construction with heavy equipment, moving cranes, and massive steel beams can cause a catastrophic accident in a heartbeat.

At Denena Points, PC, our goals are to help state and local officials increase workplace safety when we can and to ensure that injured victims receive the dedicated legal help they deserve after a needless on the job injury or loss of life. To further these efforts, we urge you to contact us to report serious work accident injuries.

We’re available at 281-269-4363 or through our online contact form. Our Texas work injury lawyers offer injured victims or surviving family members a free, no obligation legal consultation after their accidents to discuss the specifics of their case, evaluate their potential for just financial compensation, and begin strategizing their most effective legal options. Don’t hesitate to contact us when you need help after a serious work accident injury.

On OSHA Worker Fall Protection Guidelines for High Rise Construction

Continued from Part 1. The Texas work accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC mention that 29 CFR 1926.760 gives the following rules designed for worker protection from fall injuries and fatalities while engaged in the construction of tall buildings with steel skeletons:

General requirements: Workers on a walking/working surface with an unprotected edge more than 15 feet above a lower level must be protected by conventional fall protection [29 CFR 1926.760(a)(1)].

• Perimeter safety cables must be installed at the final interior and exterior perimeters of multi-story structures as soon as the decking has been installed [29 CFR 1926.760(a)(2)]. Our Texas work accident lawyers remark that the perimeter safety cables help protect the detail crew that follows behind the decking crew.

• Connectors and workers in controlled decking zones (CDZs) must be protected from fall hazards as provided in 29 CFR 1926.760(a)(3), Connectors and Controlled Decking Zone.

17. Connectors must be protected by conventional fall protection when working on a surface with an unprotected edge more than two stories or 30 feet above a lower level [29 CFR 1926.760(b)(1)], and they must have completed the connector training described in 29 CFR 1926.761 [29 CFR 1926.760(b)(2)].

17. While working at heights over 15 and up to 30 feet, connectors must [29 CFR 1926.760(b)(3)]: be provided with a complete personal fall arrest system or other allowable fall protection, and wear the equipment necessary for tying off.

17. Controlled Decking Zones (CDZs) can be established as a substitute for fall protection where metal decking is initially being installed and forms the leading edge of a work area over 15 and up to 30 feet above a lower level [29 CFR 1926.760(c)].

17. Leading-edge workers in a CDZ are required to: be protected from fall hazards above 2 stories or 30 feet (whichever is less) [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(1)], and have completed CDZ training in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.761 [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(4)].

17. Our Texas work accident lawyers emphasize that workers not engaged in leading-edge work and who are not properly trained in the hazards involved are prohibited from entering the CDZ [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(2)] and [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(4)].

17. The CDZ must be no more than 90 feet wide and 90 feet deep from any leading edge [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(3)], not exceed 3,000 square feet of unsecured decking [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(5)], have designated and clearly marked boundaries with control lines (a highly visible boundary) or the equivalent [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(3)], have safety deck attachments placed from the leading edge back to the control line [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(6)], and have at least two safety deck attachments for each metal decking panel [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(6)].

17. Final deck attachments and the installation of shear connectors are prohibited from being done in the CDZ. [29 CFR 1926.760(c)(7)]

Criteria for Fall Protection Equipment: Guardrail systems, safety-net systems, personal fall-arrest systems, positioning-device systems and their components must conform to the criteria in 29 CFR 1926.502. (Our Texas work accident lawyers note that further details are available in Appendix G to the rules.) [29 CFR 1926.760(d)(1)];

• Fall-arrest system components must be used in fall-restraint systems and conform to the criteria in 29 CFR 1926.502. (More details available in Appendix G to the rules.) [29 CFR 1926.760(d)(2)]; and

• Either body belts or body harnesses may be used in fall restraint systems for steel erection [29 CFR 1926.760(d)(2)].

• Perimeter safety cables must meet the criteria for guardrail systems in 29 CFR 1926.502. (More information available in Appendix G.) [29 CFR 1926.760(d)(3)].

Custody of fall protection: The steel erector may leave fall protection in place so it may be used by other trades only if the controlling contractor [29 CFR 1926.760(e)] has directed the steel erector to leave the fall protection in place [29 CFR 1926.760(e)(1)], and has inspected and accepted control and responsibility of the fall protection before authorizing other trades to work in the area [29 CFR 1926.760(e)(2)].

Contact the Texas Work Accident Lawyers at Denena Points, PC if you’ve been Seriously Injured or lost a Loved One in a Fall due to Negligence like Inadequate Fall Protection

Not all workers are covered by workers’ compensation for their injuries on the job. And even when they are covered by workers’ comp, the benefits rarely cover the full amount of their expenses and lost wages after the accident. Contact us for a FREE and confidential legal consultation to learn more. You have no obligation to hire an attorney. Our Texas work accident lawyers are available anytime through our online contact form or call us at281-369-4363.

Preventing Fatal Falls in the Texas Steel Construction Industry

The Texas work accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC have noticed that belief that the recession has ended has given new life to serious building projects, many of them high rise residential or commercial structures with steel skeletons. Texas was never as hard-hit as other states, and some construction has continued throughout the last few years.

But the renewed building efforts may also lead to burgeoning numbers of serious and fatal injuries in construction. National data reveals that nearly one in four fatal work accidents happen in the construction industry. Due to the dangers involved in building high-rise structures, many of the construction worker deaths occur while workers are in the process of erecting steel structures and connecting the steel support members. Our Texas work accident lawyers point out that many of the fatal accidents are falls. These falls happen when:

• Workers fall after being struck by other objects, like loads being hoisted or placed by cranes.
• Workers without adequate fall protection slip when a piece of decking gets blown off by wind or knocked off by work efforts.
• Decking that is unstable or not properly secured slips out of place when a worker steps onto it.
• Workers fail to use adequate fall protection gear or they use it or rig it incorrectly.
• Workers slip or fall while standing or walking on structural joists or beams without adequate fall protection gear.
• Workers fall because they’re not tied off properly at their workstation while welding, cutting, bolting, or joining structural components.

The Texas work accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC realize that worker deaths from falling during high-rise construction efforts often get widely publicized in the news due to the horrific nature of the accident. U.S. OSHA often investigates these accidents and uses what it learns during the investigations to try and create and promulgate rules designed to prevent further such accidents.

When erecting a tall, steel-supported structure, a new and quite narrow working surface goes up as the steel skeleton gets built up. For many of the workers, particularly those engaged in connecting the steel structural members, their work begins at the top level of the project. These are brave men and women. The anchor points other workers use for safety are frequently limited in number or nonexistent for these brave workers. The special considerations involved in building steel-supported structures make conventional worker fall protection difficult to deploy below 15 feet.

So OSHA rules include a range of regulations specifically focused on worker fall protection while engaged in the erection of tall steel structures. In part 2 of this article, our Texas work accident lawyers present some of these rules so that Texas workers will better know what to expect at a safe worksite and how to recognize an unsafe construction site.

Continue to Part 2 to learn how to help ensure proper worker fall protection at a construction site.

Were Crane Inspection Standards Followed in the NYC Crane Collapse?

Our Houston work accident attorneys point out that because of the exceptional hazards posed to workers and bystanders during the operation of heavy construction cranes, the federal government has promulgated rules in 29 CFR 1926.753(c)(1) requiring the inspection of these cranes, particularly in regard to the construction of steel-framed structures, prior to each work shift.

Yesterday n New York City, a 200-foot high mobile construction crane that had been set up over the weekend collapsed during the erection of the second story of a projected 25-story apartment building in Long Island City, Queens. The sudden collapse was heralded by the sound of snapping cables and crunching metal, giving some workers time to run for their lives. But 7 were injured, including 3 that got trapped beneath the fallen crane boom.

Given the crane’s collapse so soon after its assembly at the site, our Houston work accident attorneys believe that it could be that proper inspections were not conducted after the crane’s erection and prior to the start of Wednesday’s work shift. The crane’s boom collapsed, which might indicate particular negligence with regard to boom inspection procedures indicated below. Our Houston work accident attorneys present here the federal rules regarding the inspection of cranes prior to work shifts:

INSPECTION: before each shift, a competent person must visually inspect cranes being used in steel erection activities. The inspection must include observation for deficiencies during operation, including, at a minimum:

• All control mechanisms for maladjustments,
• Control and drive mechanism for excessive wear of components and contamination by lubricants, water, or other foreign matter,
• Safety devices, including but not limited to: boom-angle indicators, boom stops, boom kick-out devices, anti-two block devices, and load moment indicators where required,
• Air, hydraulic, and other pressurized lines, especially those that flex during operation, for: deterioration, or leakage,
• Hooks and latches for deformation, chemical damage, cracks, or wear,
• Wire rope reeving for compliance with hoisting equipment manufacturer’s specifications,
• Electrical apparatus for: malfunctioning, signs of excessive deterioration, dirt, or moisture accumulation,
• Hydraulic system for proper fluid level,
• Tires for proper inflation and condition,
• Ground conditions around the hoisting equipment for: proper support, including ground settling under and around outriggers, ground water accumulation, or similar conditions,
• The hoisting equipment for level position, and
• The hoisting equipment for level position after each move and setup.

If any deficiency is identified, the competent person must make an immediate determination as to whether the deficiency constitutes a hazard. If the deficiency is determined to constitute a hazard, the hoisting equipment must be removed from service, until the deficiency has been corrected. A qualified rigger (a rigger who is also a qualified person) must inspect the rigging prior to each shift in accordance with 29 CFR 1926.251.

Contact the Established Houston Work Accident Attorneys at Denena Points, PC when you have Questions about your Serious Injury in Relation to a Claim for Financial Compensation

We offer a FREE initial legal consultation to evaluate your claim, answer your questions, and address your concerns. You have no obligation to hire an attorney. Call us now at 281-369-4363 or just fill out our online contact form to get your free consultation. We’re here to help; it’s what we do.

Ensuring TX Worker Safety for those Working Under Loads lifted by Crane

U.S. OSHA has promulgated rules to ensure safety in the American workplace. State and local laws might supplement these to build greater safety under local working conditions.

When contractors are erecting large steel-framed structures, large construction cranes are necessary to hoist the heavy building loads and rig the steel structural members. But our Houston work injury attorneys well know that steel construction presents special worker hazards like the use of cranes to suspend loads over certain workers, hoist workers to the current work platform, and perform multiple lifts.

The following safety tips could help prevent worker injuries and deaths from working under hoisted or suspended loads:

• Routes for the suspended loads should be pre-planned in order to ensure that no worker has to work directly below a suspended load (except for those workers who must hook up or unhook the load, or work on the initial connection of the steel members).

• When workers work under suspended loads, the materials being hoisted should be rigged to avoid unintentional displacement.

• Hooks with self-closing safety latches or the like should be used to prevent parts from slipping out of the hook.

• A qualified rigger must rig loads.

This short list represents just the tip of the iceberg on proper safety precautions necessary to prevent worker injuries and death in the construction industry. Construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States and Texas has seen more of it in the last few years than most other states.

Contact the Houston Work Injury Attorneys to Report Serious Injuries in a Construction Accident

At Denena Points, PC, we make ongoing efforts to work with state and local authorities to enhance workplace safety and to ensure that accident victims and their families get the compensation they deserve after a needless injury. In furtherance of these efforts, we urge you to contact us to report accident information if you’ve witnessed serious injuries or fatalities in the workplace. Our Houston work injury attorneys can be reached anytime through our online contact form or by calling 281-369-4363. We’re here to help; it’s what we do.