NORA Symposium 2006 Sector Workshops
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NOTE: This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.
Construction
The Construction Sector Workshop was held on April 20 at NORA Symposium 2006. Twenty-six people participated. Following opening remarks that included a presentation of the top issues that had been submitted to the NORA Docket, participants suggested important topics for future work in the construction sector and each participant received 10 votes to distribute among the topics. After grouping like topics, Table 1 presents the workshop participants’ “top ten” group of topics. Table 2 presents a group of other important topics. Table 3 contains an unordered list of topics and key points raised during the discussion. Similar topics were then combined after the voting had occurred to make Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1. “Top ten” topics of workshop participants
| Ranked Topics | Multi-votes received |
|---|---|
| Small Business/self employed contractor needs | 28 |
| Musculoskeletal disorders/ergonomics | 24 |
| Falls from heights | 20 |
| Safety and design | 19 |
| Special populations/Hispanic workforce issues | 19 |
| Hearing Loss and Noise exposure awareness | 18 |
| Intervention effectiveness | 16 |
| Surveillance | 14 |
| Promoting “crew based safety climate” | 13 |
| Training effectiveness | 10 |
Table 2. Preliminary second tier of construction sector issues
| Ranked Topics | Multi-votes received |
|---|---|
| Translation for small contractors and communicating risks | 9 |
| Transient workforce | 8 |
| Business case for safety in construction | 7 |
| Respiratory and other health hazards | 6 |
| Behavioral based safety | 6 |
Table 3. Inventory of “top Construction Sector issues” suggested by individual participants
| Suggested construction topic and key points raised | Multi-voting results | Was grouped with similar topic for “Top 10” list |
|---|---|---|
| Falls from height -Targeting special populations (e.g. Hispanic workers) -Disseminate tools that work -Focus on laborers, roofers, residential construction -Access to manufacturers data as a problem area |
8 | Yes |
| Ergonomics -Designing for older workers |
15 | Yes |
| Hispanic workforce/special populations | 11 | Yes |
| Training effectiveness | 2 | Yes |
| Reaching exploited (non-union) workforce on healthy behaviors | 2 | |
| Noise exposure awareness -Lack of regulatory coverage for construction noise -Mobile population challenges -Identifying high risk groups -Need for better surveillance systems |
5 | Yes |
| Fit problems for PPE | 1 | |
| Noise and special populations -Insufficient control technology -Hearing conservation for transient workers -Tool and noise data -Impact noise poorly characterized |
5 | Yes |
| Intervention effectiveness research -Example of working with unions that have had training programs |
9 | |
| Promoting “crew based safety climate” -Workers pre-planning and control activities -Use work crew performance model from mining sector |
9 | |
| Small Contractors -Resource needs |
9 | Yes |
| Respiratory and other health hazards -better characterize exposures -long latency, rather than observable effects |
6 | |
| Hearing Loss -Lack of basic audiometric services and education |
8 | Yes |
| Effect of changing demographics -Need to match needs with skills and tools |
1 | |
| Training effectiveness | 6 | Yes |
| Surveillance – gaps in available information with changes in coding systems | 14 | |
| Translate knowledge for smaller contractors, especially for residential | 6 | Yes |
| Small tool design and engineering controls -sequential trigger for nail guns as example |
1 | Yes |
| Falls in residential construction -Surveillance still important – need all hospitalizations to be reported -diffuse solutions to small contractors -better research effectiveness -develop more solutions -improve implementation of existing solutions -show cost effectiveness of existing solutions |
12 | Yes |
| Safety in Design -Increase architects knowledge of hazards so they can be eliminated |
13 | Yes |
| Business case for safety -culture in industry |
7 | |
| Implementation -Understanding disconnect |
3 | |
| Training credentials for company management and OSH professionals | 2 | |
| Planning for Safety – System safety for construction | 4 | |
| Special populations – Biomarkers and unique susceptibilities | 3 | Yes |
| Strategies for disaster response management for construction workers | 1 | |
| Psychological Stress -Intermittent work -Contribution to substance abuse |
3 | |
| Residential Building -Improve surveillance (especially health) -Need data to understand causes |
2 | |
| Falls -Root causes -simple solutions -understanding risk taking behaviors |
3 | Yes |
| Subpopulations -“New” employees and early phases of work -Teen workers |
4 | Yes |
| MSD – Developing solutions | 9 | Yes |
| Safety Culture -What are the best practices? -How to create good safety culture? |
3 | |
| Communicating risks to construction workers | 3 | Yes |
| Intervention effectiveness | 7 | Yes |
| Surveillance….for controls -What is being used? (need a baseline) |
1 | |
| Safety through Design -How to get architects involved? -Learning from international approaches -Moving safety upstream |
6 | Yes |
| Small Business -Getting them information that is meaningful to them -Simple messages that reflect their culture |
15 | Yes |
| Transient workers -Impact on surveillance -Underreporting of injuries -Undefined hazards |
8 | |
| Heavy equipment struck bys | 2 | |
| Facilitation of field research (helping researchers) | 5 | |
| Behavioral based safety -Understanding barriers to implementation -Changing behaviors -Training effectiveness |
6 | |
| Self-employed contractors | 4 | Yes |
- Page last reviewed: October 21, 2008 (archived document)
- Content source:
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Office of the Director