NORA Symposium 2006 Sector Workshops

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 updated:October 21, 2008