Dive Brief:

• An ironworker on the $2.3 billion Interstate 4 Ultimate highway expansion project in Orlando, Florida, died earlier this month after a rebar cage fell and struck him, according to WKMG News 6.
• Michael Tolman, age 56, an employee of subcontractor Shelby Erectors, was working near one of the freeway ramps when the cage fell on him, according to Engineering News-Record. Construction stopped along the entire 21-mile length of the project while law enforcement investigated the incident and while SGL Constructors – the private-public joint venture between Skanska USA, Granite Construction and Lane Construction – reviewed its safety procedures. Work resumed four days later, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
• This is the third struck-by fatality on the I-4 project. In 2016, one worker was hit by a truck and another died after being struck by a piece of falling steel.

Dive Insight:

According to OSHA records, the agency cited SGL with a serious violation in relation to the first fatal incident with the truck and fined the joint venture $12,471 for exposing employees to struck-by hazards. An investigation by WESH found that SGL, as part of its notice of a corrective action plan to OSHA, said it had created a new internal traffic control plan, revised its heavy-equipment backup plan and put a renewed emphasis on the use of spotters.

OSHA has prioritized the reduction of struck-by injuries and deaths by making this type of accident part of its Focus Four initiative. OSHA categorizes struck-by hazards as falling, flying, swinging and rolling, and offers common-sense advice as to how to avoid being injured, such as never positioning oneself between moving and stationary objects, staying alert to vehicles on the project site and wearing high-visibility clothing.

According to an August report from the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR), struck-by incidents are on the rise. In fact, the center found that more than 800 U.S. construction workers died in struck-by incidents from 2011 to 2015, which is a rate higher than any other industry.

The CPWR said that 52% of deaths involved flying or falling objects and equipment. Nearly 60% of vehicle-related accidents happened in work zones, so highway maintenance workers had the highest rate of deadly struck-by incidents. Also, workers 65 years and older had an increased risk of being killed in a struck-by event.

As for nonfatal struck-by injuries, the construction industry had almost twice the number as all other industries combined.  

Even the best of general contractor-instituted safety programs won't be as effective as they could be if subcontractors don't buy into it. To that end, many general contractors typically require subcontractors, particularly on large projects, to submit site-specific safety plans. These plans, according to Grading and Excavation Contractor Magazine, include how a subcontractor will carry out its scope of work, how it will manage its sub-subcontractors, emergency and disciplinary action plans and a thorough job hazard analysis.