HIGHLIGHTS 2011

STORIES OF IMPACT Contents

1 FOREWORD Mark H. Ayers

2 MESSAGE Pete Stafford

4 RESEARCH 6 A Mobile Interface to Answer Safety and Health Questions 7 Breakthrough Research Leads to OSHA/NIOSH Guidance Document 7 Confronting Construction Safety’s Greatest Foe 8 Construction Workers Take the Initiative for Safe Conditions 8 Creating Products that Communicate Research Findings 9 Danger to Workers More Pronounced than Often Understood 10 Helping Workers Live Longer and Work Smarter with Local Exhaust Ventilation 12 Immigrant Day Laborers and Peer-to-Peer Safety Training 13 Investigating Spray-foam Insulation and Occupational Asthma 13 Making Concrete Drilling Easier 14 Rewarding Safety without Discouraging Incident Reporting 14 Saving Ironworkers’ Backs and Lungs 15 Seeking a Better Way to Measure Health and Safety Performance 16 Translating Research into Action 18 Working with Business and Labor for Better Respiratory and Hearing Protection 18 Work Shouldn’t Be a Chronic Pain 19 Big Findings in CPWR Small Studies

20 TRAINING 22 Building a Reserve Army of Disaster Responders 23 The 10 Hours That Can Save a Life: OSHA Training 24 This Training Curriculum Hits the Mark … 25 CPWR Hazardous Waste Worker Training – Cleans Up America 25 Minority Worker Training Program

28 SERVICE 30 Building Trades National Medical Screening Program (BTMed) 32 Recent Publications in Peer-reviewed Journals and Trade/Union Magazines

35 CPWR CONSORTIUM PARTNERS

36 OVERSIGHT AND ADVISORY BOARDS

37 CPWR STAFF Foreword to Highlights 2011

T hose of us in the building phone (see page 6). Think stud welding can only be trades are a lucky bunch, done one way? Think again (after reading page 14). and we know it. We come out Can incentives to reward safety not discourage incident of the best training facilities reporting (also on page 14). The Stories of Impact open in the world, drawing on the a window into how some of CPWR’s research gets used experience of generations and, every day in America. thanks to CPWR, knowledge The Training section is impressive. We now have of the latest innovations in more than 5,000 construction workers fully trained to Mark H. Ayers safety and health. We hone step into a disaster situation and not risk their life or our skills in the craft we’ve chosen because it fits us – the lives of others while performing critical tasks. In pouring foundations, erecting steel columns and beams, the last grant year, CPWR administered 274 courses – linking people and systems with electrical current. We nearly 80,000 hours – in various environmental hazard walk onto a job site fully prepared to do what is asked training specialties. I am extremely proud to announce of us. We know what it’s like to do a hard day’s work. that our Smart Mark OSHA 10-hour program has trained When our work is done, our contribution is obvious. an average of 10,000 workers a month. You can drive by a building and say, “I did that.” The program we christened the Building Trades But what if your contributions weren’t set in stone. Medical Screening Program (BTMed) continues to do an Or brick. Or concrete. For those workers not fortunate outstanding job serving construction workers employed enough to be blessed with a desire to build and skill on sites where nuclear weapons were produced. Today, set to match, how can they see their work has impact? more than 24,000 of these workers unwittingly exposed I know CPWR, and CPWR makes impact. Whether to hazards have been screened. it’s through the data analysis that has brought such All this work produces impact. You’ll hear it in the notoriety to CPWR, hours of training delivered or voices of the men who’ve been through the BTMed visits made to CPWR’s growing electronic offerings, screening program. You’ll catch the excitement of CPWR can cite ways it has an impact on our industry. workers leaving a CPWR training class – or the trainer Still, isn’t it better to hear a story of just how some- when he sees “a light bulb go on” with his students. thing like a ladder safety DVD or a training program And you’ll get first-person accounts of how CPWR’s has made a difference in someone’s professional (or research is put into practice with positive results. personal) life? I think you’ll find something in this report that will This year, CPWR is going to give you the best of connect with you and your work. Put it to use. Then tell both worlds: quantifiable results of the year’s work plus CPWR the results, or as a stakeholder in our industry tell “Stories of Impact.” You’ll meet people applying CPWR’s CPWR what else it can do to improve safety and health information and programs to improve worker safety conditions for all construction workers. and health. In the Research section, you get a glimpse of the progress on projects to make your work easier and Mark H. Ayers safer. If you are a foreman needing a quick solution for a President, CPWR President, Building and Construction just-detected hazard, the answer is as close as your smart Trades Department, AFL-CIO

1 CPWR IMPACT

Research Training Service

e are an institution information, eLCOSH. We For our Highlights 2011, W that has been confirm the tens of thousands we took a step beyond brief quantifying results since we of workers we’ve helped statements of what we began our research initiative train. We point with pride accomplished in the year. in 1990 with the first grant to partnerships that bring We reached out to people in awarded by the National together industry, labor the trades, in government and Institute for Occupational and government to share industry and asked them how Safety and Health (NIOSH). knowledge and collaborate CPWR’s work has made a And we know CPWR’s work on projects to benefit all who difference in their life, their of applied research and work in construction. And we work, their productivity, training in safety and health know that 98% of our BTMed their health. The results practices has had an impact. medical screening participants appear on almost every page We can count the millions are satisfied with the program. of the 2011 report – even this of visitors to our online But sometimes quantifying one. Pictured above are three repository of construction impact is best demonstrated young workers excelling in life safety and health with examples of impact. through the Minority Worker

2 What is Your Story of Impact?

Training program, a trainer professional career? Did you who’s found our ladder safety find that important nugget of DVD is so essential that he information you couldn’t find “How has CPWR’s always has a copy handy, and anywhere else? Let us hear work made a a worker who found our from you. Email your “story difference in your medical screening program to of impact” to news@cpwr. professional or be so critical that he promotes com. We’ll collect and publish personal life? it to his colleagues. some highlights. For now, Email your story to Now let me turn this turn your attention to this [email protected].” question to you: How has annual report and see if CPWR’s work made a CPWR will have an impact difference in your professional on you. or personal life? Does your training have richer content? Pete Stafford Have you applied what you’ve Executive Director learned in your academic or

3 Research Research

If you’re looking for impressive welding, tuck-pointing, drilling into results, rigorous academic publica- concrete, and demolition. They tions are a good place to start. From examined work-related asthma and engineering and management to exposure to isocyanates in spray- medical toxicology to leadership foam insulation. They measured and organizational development, the stress on workers’ bodies when performing taxing physical labor How do you put a – and they even measured workers’ price tag on a person’s and managers’ perceptions about hearing? Ability to walk this work. They collected stories or live without chronic of critical incidents on job sites to pain or disease? Or identify the barriers workers face in simply, to be alive? speaking up for safe work practices. And then they published. CPWR-funded research appeared in But our researchers also know 14 different peer-reviewed journals that their efforts do not end with during the last two years. a journal article. CPWR’s vibrant Yet as you see from the photos research to practice (“r2p”) effort at right, CPWR researchers did is already helping them to build much more than sit in university stronger connections with industry offices writing up results of a lab professionals to aid in disseminat- study. Our staff and consortium ing valuable research findings. partners were in the field where The true impact may never be the all-too-real hazards of the con- adequately measured. How do struction industry present them- you put a price tag on a person’s selves. They monitored welding hearing? Ability to walk or live fumes and silica dust in separate without chronic pain or disease? and distinct activities, such as stud Or simply, to be alive? 4 “Every ‘Bestconstruction thing our workercompany needs ever to takedid’ thisfor acourse. safer Itwork could site. save lives.”

CPWR’s 17 on-going researchIMPACT projects have published in 14 different peer-reviewed journals. Research A STORY OF IMPACT A Mobile Interface to Answer Safety and Safety Liaisons and Worker Training Health Questions When New Labor safety liaisons in May saw men at work on this dodgy Construction Solutions Database scaffold in Newark, N.J., they approached the supervisors to fix the Lead Researchers: Jim Platner, PhD, problem – but they were brushed aside. Seeing these workers in immi- and Chris Le, MPH, CPWR nent danger, they decided they had to contact OSHA. Fortunately, the safety liaisons, who were trained by New Labor and he CPWR Construction Solu- T tions database was designed researchers at Rutgers University, had worked hard to establish a relation- ship with NJ OSHA field staff in as an easy-to-use online tool for “ Thanks to their training, construction firms seeking ready- Parsippany. When Compliance to-use answers to their health and these safety liaisons are Assistance Specialist Beatriz safety questions and control options highly credible when they Cabrera received the call from to address task-related hazards. This call in a report. We welcome Edison, a safety liaison, reporting storehouse of information contains their help in identifying workers in imminent danger, she analyses of hundreds of common knew that the call came from an workplace hazards, from accidents dangerous work situations experienced construction worker waiting to happen to poorly de- in the field.” signed equipment. For each hazard, with OSHA-10 training, and that — Beatriz Cabrera, compliance assistance there was no time to lose. the database offers one or more specialist, NJ OSHA field office effective solutions, from alternative OSHA field staff went into work techniques to commercially action immediately, verified the complaint and launched an investiga- available tools. Platner and his team tion. OSHA recorded significant have worked without pause from violations and levied heavy fines the project’s 2004 inception to on both the masonry contractor develop new solutions and make engaged in the work and the them simpler to find. general contractor who hired the So when the mobile revolution hit the building industry, Platner suspect firm. The investigation saw an opportunity. Every superin- is still open. tendent and safety manager walking “Thanks to their training, these a construction site seemed to have a safety liaisons are highly credible smart phone in hand. With Con- when they call in a report,” struction Solutions and their mobile explained Cabrera. “We welcome phone, whenever a manager spotted their help in identifying dangerous a dangerous situation, the answer work situations in the field.” would be a click away. Could CPWR design the “killer app” of construc- New Labor safety liaisons may tion health and safety? have saved these workers’ necks. The project was more compli- cated than it sounds. A true “app” would be downloaded, which would be a formidable challenge for the Platner’s team instead created a testing, www.consol.mobi moved large and growing database. But the mobile phone interface using the steadily toward its 2012 public Construction Solutions website was alternative .mobi website (instead of debut. Will this be the innovation designed for a much larger laptop or .com or .org), which is designed to that saves the skin of countless desktop display and was hard to read be user-friendly on a handheld construction workers? Stay tuned. and use on a tiny smart phone. device. After a year of design and

6 Breakthrough Research strates that the switch to the safer Leads to OSHA/NIOSH trigger and training cut nail gun Guidance Document injuries by an astonishing 50%. Training reduced injuries significant- ly but those using tools with contact Prevention of Nail Gun Injuries triggers continued to have twice the in Residential Construction injury rate of those using sequential Lead Researcher: Hester Lipscomb, PhD trigger tools. Over the past year the Duke University team has moved its focus to West hanks to the work of Dr. Lip- Virginia with the intent of replicat- Nailgunfacts.org launched in late 2011 to ing the program with nonunion provide training tools, promote safe work T scomb and her team, the haz- practices and raise the profile of the tools ards of the contact trip nail gun, or framing contractors there. most likely to cause injury. “bump gun,” have reached a steadily Meanwhile, the project team has wider audience in recent years. reached out to numerous audiences, rious for its high rate of workplace Her initial work with the Carpenters including contractors, unions, accidents. In the face of challenges District Council for Greater St Louis government safety and health posed by the sharp downturn in the documented a substantial risk of officials, and workers’ compensation residential construction market, injury among residential carpen- insurance carriers, speaking on the Dr. Evanoff’s team is moving forward ters. Analysis of National Electronic issue and distributing some 1,500 with a series of innovative fall pro- Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) safety alerts. Longstanding conversa- tection programs in construction. tions have continued with tool Building on its earlier work manufacturers as well, urging them providing enhanced fall prevention to limit production of framing nail training to apprentice carpenters, the The switch to the guns to those with the safer sequen- team is now reaching out to their safer sequential tial trip trigger. supervisors – carpenter foremen. In The safety campaign received a addition, researchers began exploring trigger plus training significant boost in August 2011 a technology lending program when NIOSH and OSHA jointly intended to promote the use of new cut nail gun injuries by issued the guidance document, “Nail fall protection systems. The team an astonishing 50%. Gun Safety: A Guide for Construc- developed and delivered a new fall tion Contractors.” More than 15,000 protection and safety supervision printed copies of the guide, based training program with 27 carpenter largely on Dr. Lipscomb’s research, foremen leading residential framing data indicated that nail gun acci- have been distributed; 250,000 crews. The technology lending dents send 37,000 to U.S. emergen- visitors have accessed it on OSHA’s program has given contractors and cy rooms every year, further indicat- website, with thousands more going foremen exposure to newly produced ing that nail guns are a significant to the NIOSH website. 2011 also saw safety systems like the Wall Walker danger to carpenters and consumers the rollout of www.nailgunfacts.org, hanging scaffold and safety bar alike. Risk of injury is twice as a web resource sharing the latest anchorages designed for personal fall high among users of a tool with information on nail gun hazards arrest. Evanoff’s team continues its a contact trigger. and safety. alliance with the Carpenters’ Joint Training was initiated by the Apprenticeship Program, as research- Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Confronting Construction ers perform follow-up surveys of 300 Program in St Louis in response to Safety’s Greatest Foe apprentices per year who participat- these findings, and contractors were ed in their new fall prevention encouraged to provide carpenters Fall Prevention in curriculum. with tools with the safer sequential Residential Construction Initial results of these projects trigger. The sequential trip trigger have been promising. One contract- Project Director: Bradley Evanoff, MD, MPH requires that the nose piece of the ing firm participating in the project Washington University contact be depressed prior to pulling changed its work practices to ensure the trigger, reducing the chance of alls are the number one killer of that its workers are protected from injuries from inadvertent firings. F construction workers on the job, falls when working at heights Continuing surveillance demon- and residential construction is noto- throughout all phases of home

7 Research

construction. This contractor also adopted new toolbox talk procedures to prepare workers for the work tasks and conditions anticipated that day. Many contractors have borrowed the fall prevention technologies, and several have purchased the equip- ment and adopted new work practices as a result. Meanwhile, the team is working with the Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program to update the training curriculum in Colorado State University student Krista Hoffmeister works with Dan Wisner, an ergonomics light of updated OSHA enforcement engineer at John Deere Des Moines Works, to distribute the ergonomic climate surveys. procedures covering fall protection in residential construction. Pipefitters, and from contractors who jobsite. Early results of these surveys work with the union. Participants suggest that ergonomic climate is Construction Workers shared stories of critical incidents strongly correlated with reduced Take the Initiative and helped identify the barriers that injury and accident reports. for Safe Conditions workers faced in speaking up for safe practices. The findings were used to Creating Products Enhancing Safety generate a pilot training program in that Communicate through Leadership safety leadership that was tested at a Research Findings large mechanical contractor in Lead Researcher: John Rosecrance, PhD spring 2011. The experience gained Colorado State University Dissemination & Communications during this pilot program is cur- Lead Researcher: Mary Watters, MFA, CPWR here aren’t enough effective rently being used to refine and T safety managers to develop update the safety leadership curricu- he project to redesign and and sustain a culture of safety that lum. The team will run the refined T restructure eLCOSH, CPWR’s permeates every workplace at every training program in 2012 with flagship communications tool for moment. But when workers acquire various unions and contractors disseminating research findings to a leadership skills in this area, mo- throughout the United States. worldwide audience, made signifi- mentary attention when the safety A supplemental project involves cant progress in 2011. The eLCOSH manager walks the site can be re- the design of an effective tool for renovation team engaged 58 people placed by a culture in which skilled evaluating ergonomic climate in the (trainers, safety and health profes- tradesmen and women take the workplace. In recent years, social sionals, and academics) in eight initiative on safety issues throughout scientists have designed effective different developmental testing the day. Rosecrance and his team set surveys to measure a work site’s activities – from initial testing of cat- out to identify the leadership skills “safety climate” – how well supervi- egories and prioritization of home that workers need to be effective sors and workers understand safe page content to testing various ver- safety advocates on the job. Having work practices, and what priority sions of an eLCOSH prototype and done so, the team is developing a they assign them – but no similar finalizing that prototype. The tests curriculum to teach these skills to tool is available for ergonomics. The were conducted at CPWR, at a Min- apprentices, journeymen, and fore- team has held focus group meetings nesota training center and remote men in the construction industry. with Denver area construction sites across the country using online In late 2010, the project team superintendents and extensive meeting tools. The team’s proto- held focus groups and collected sessions with employees and type of the “new” eLCOSH received survey data from workers recruited managers involved in the skilled extremely positive receptions with from multiple local unions of the trades. The result is a tool for members of the initial brainstorming United Association of Plumbers and measuring ergonomic climate on a group, the eLCOSH Working Group.

8 2011, it was one of many projects undertaken and executed during the A STORY OF year. Highlights from the year IMPACT include a new project to develop short pieces to show the impact of Reducing Pain, Fatigue and Dust CPWR’s research. The first Impact card was produced in November and Environmental Management Solutions of New York (EMS) featured the work of Dr. David faced a vexing challenge. On the 30th and 31st floors of a high Rempel’s project on the overhead rise, the crew was to drill 150 large-diameter holes in concrete drilling device. Many more cards are slab ceilings, quickly and efficiently. planned. Also in 2011, the Depart- ment created and tested a new style “The work was ungainly and unsafe when done by hand on a of Hazard Alert card and chose Silica. ladder,” said company CEO Marco Pedone. “It was difficult to get Upon its completion, BCTD unions the hole drilled right, and within five minutes the workers were began placing orders for the card, covered in dust.” quickly running through the initial An online search led Pedone to the UC San Francisco Ergo- printing of 10,000 cards. The nomics Project and its CPWR-funded Inverted Drill Press, which Communications Department is operates from floor level and lessens musculoskeletal injury by working with union international taking the tool out of workers’ hands and elevating it to ceiling safety and health representatives height on a telescoping mount. to identify all the places the cards “A job that would have will be disseminated and used – The drill also features a dust-control taken four or five work- while taking orders to reprint the system to capture deadly silica dust. ers two weeks ended popular card. up taking three guys Within days the EMS crew had an Also of note, Communications four-and-a-half days.” Inverted Drill running on site. staff created an electronic newsletter “Our experience with the Drill to keep interested stakeholders — Dr. Marco Pedone, President and CEO of EMS, clinical has been nothing but good,” Pedone up-to-date on CPWR research professor of environmental said. “It is a comfortable way to drill activities and training aids. The first and safety engineering, “CPWR Update” was sent in early Columbia University. holes, and it is a time-saver. A job that September 2011. Communication would have taken four or five workers staff pursued a number of outreach two weeks ended up taking three efforts to increase readership, and guys four-and-a-half days. now more than 1,600 people receive “Everybody who saw it in action the electronic publication. asked where they could get one.” Contractors seeking the Inverted Danger to Workers Drill Press can now find a slightly More Pronounced than modified version of the tool from Often Understood safety equipment manufacturer Telpro, Inc. Data Center Analysis Documents Risk of Disability, Death and The Inverted Drill Press (left) is now commercially available in a modified form through Telpro, Inc. Accident on the Construction Site Lead Researcher: Xiuwen (Sue) Dong, DrPH, CPWR

The next step for the renovation confirmed its own transition docu- Aging Construction team was to work with web devel- ments and process to ensure the Workers Face Alarming oper Conceptual Arts to confirm recategorizing the 1,000-plus items Physical Impairments the specifications document, which on eLCOSH would work smoothly. Dong and her team analyzed the would ensure programming would While the eLCOSH renovation health impairments of more than meet the structure and format of project was the prime work of the 7,000 workers aged 50 or older in the new site. Meanwhile, the team Communications Department in 1998, then for the same workers in

9 Research Researchers suspect that while fatal accidents are too difficult to hide, a Over a 45-year career growing number of small contractors a construction worker are failing to report the accidents 2008. Of the sample, 510 were that don’t result in a fatality, even identified as construction workers has a 75% likelihood serious ones. Dong and her team esti- and 2,501 as white-collar workers. The of experiencing a mate that some 50% of lost workday team’s findings, though perhaps not injuries at these small contractors – unexpected, were profound: con- severe injury. over 42,000 per year – go unreported. struction workers were significantly For Hispanic workers, disproportion- more likely to report persistently ately employed at these firms, that higher rates of a variety of illnesses share is an astonishing 75%. and injuries, including arthritis, tion worker safety and health with a chronic lung diseases and strokes. close study of disparities between A Lifetime of Exposure to Older construction workers were Hispanic and white, non-Hispanic Danger Means that Career also more likely to report that their construction workers, they noticed Construction Workers Can health problems limited their ability something remarkable. The trend Expect a Severe Accident to work. In light of current proposals lines on occupational fatalities and The Data Center recently released regarding increasing the retirement on occupational injuries, particularly some startling statistics. Using age, this is a crucial finding. It seems for Hispanic workers, were moving multiple years of data from several that workers in our most physically in sharply different directions. national sources, they estimated that demanding jobs are suffering the Between 1992 and 2006, reported over a 45-year career a construction greatest health impairments with fatalities continued to climb, while worker has a 75% likelihood of age. Is it realistic to expect a plumber reported injuries rapidly declined. experiencing a severe injury. or ironworker to work at the calling What could be happening? Additionally, over the course of a until age 70 in order to receive Social A closer look at the data showed career, a construction worker has a Security benefits? that the contradictory reports were one in 200 chance of being fatally coming, for the most part, from the injured on the job. A Hispanic An Epidemic of Injury smallest contractors – those employ- construction worker has a 20% Underreporting by Small ing 10 or fewer workers accounted higher likelihood of dying from a Contractors? for nearly half of construction work-related injury than his white, When Dong’s team began to put fatalities but less than one fifth of non-Hispanic counterpart. The study together measurements of construc- reported lost workday injuries! also reveals that an individual who begins construction work at the age of 20 has a 15% chance of develop- Prevalence of Health Outcomes: Construction Trades vs. White-collar Workers ing chronic obstructive pulmonary (age 60 or older), 2008 disease over a lifetime.

66.2% Arthritis 54.1% Helping Workers 36.3% Back Problems Live Longer and Work 27.7% Smarter with Local 15.2% Lung Diseases Exhaust Ventilation 8.2% Construction Trades White-collar Workers 13.2% Strokes 9.2% Minimizing Exposures to Dusts

Health Problem 36.3% and Fume in Construction Limits Work 23.6% Lead Researcher: Pam Susi, MSPH, CPWR 29.7% Fair/Poor Hearing Prevalence 20.7% ccupational health experts Oagree: the best way to control dangerous dusts and fume is to Source: Dong, X., Wang X., Daw, C., and Ringen, K., 2011, Chronic Diseases and Functional Limitations eliminate or capture the dust at the among Older Construction Workers in the United States: A 10-Year Follow-Up Study. J Occup Environ Med. Apr;53(4):372-80. source. Pam Susi, MSPH, is assem-

10 bling alliances of stakeholders to work toward that goal. Bringing together contractors, labor organi- A STORY OF zations, equipment manufacturers, IMPACT academic researchers and govern- ment agencies, her team is evaluat- eLCOSH and the 1,000 Words ing commercially available local exhaust ventilation (LEV) technolo- Facts and figures are a mainstay of gies that could protect workers safety and health instruction, but from deadly silica dust and toxic trainers know a picture is worth a welding fumes – and planning thousand words. CPWR’s electronic how to make LEV use a standard Library of Construction Occupational industry practice. Susi shared her Safety and Health, eLCOSH (www. critical foundational research on LEV tools in March 2011 with the elcosh.org), contains more than 1,000 CPWR/NIOSH Engineering Controls items, plus hundreds of photos. OSHA’s Work Group, co-chaired by CPWR Carlos Gallegos, an avid eLCOSH user, and NIOSH. finds the images in the eLCOSH site are Susi’s team, which includes his treasures. OSHA Instructor Carlos researchers from Harvard, the Gallegos is in good company. From Gallegos delivers at a University of Puerto Rico, Florida workshop for international its launch in August 2000 until August safety & health officers. International University and a 2011, the eLCOSH website received number of top notch industrial more than 5 million visitors. In December of 2011 alone, the hygienists from around the country, has assembled two Partnerships for site had 49,424 visits from 172 countries and territories. Advancing Control Technologies Although Gallegos recently returned to OSHA enforcement, (PACTs): a welding PACT and a he spent three years teaching more than 1,000 compliance silica/tuckpointing PACT. Both have officers at the Chicago-based OSHA Training Institute in courses held well-attended initial meetings including accident investigation, electrical in which a broad cross-section of standards, scaffolding and excavation. stakeholders was represented. The “One time I was looking for a very groups collaborated to draw up lists specific image,” Gallegos said. “I was of promising LEV systems for their respective focus – welding and teaching about the excavation standard tuck-pointing – and identified the on hazardous lateral movement, and I most important criteria used in the needed to show workers next to a pipe in selection of such systems. Using the a trench. For the life of me I couldn’t find a results and continued input from photo like that among our own materials, the PACTs, the team will soon begin but I found it on eLCOSH. The pipe was testing the effectiveness of the three Gallegos’ search ended on eLCOSH with this gigantic and a cave-in would make the most highly rated LEV systems avail- photo showing a poorly trench box move, creating a danger for able on the market. installed shield that would the workers. I was able to use it to show a But no tool operates itself; not restrict hazardous lateral movement. welders must understand the hazard that is almost impossible for hazards of welding fumes and the compliance officers to document in the field,” Gallegos said. proper use of LEV if they are to be “When you can get a photo that demonstrates exactly the effective. Since a large proportion of lesson you are teaching, it’s magic.” America’s boilermakers, plumbers, Gallegos says he puts eLCOSH stickers “all over the place,” and pipefitters, sheet metal workers, and he gladly advised CPWR on its recent overhaul of the 11-year-old structural steel erectors learn their eLCOSH site – which will soon provide an improved user experi- trade through joint apprenticeship ence for its wordwide audience. and training programs, cooperating with these groups is essential to

11 Research A STORY OF IMPACT equip workers with the skills necessary to use this equipment as ‘Best thing our company ever did ...‘ it moves from research to practice. That’s why the team recruited and No one knows the gravity of the safety crisis over nail guns better assembled a Training Advisory than Dennis Patterson and James Nolan. The two retired St. Louis Group from the Ironworkers, carpenters have interviewed some 500 apprentices about injuries Boilermakers, Sheet Metal Workers, they suffered using these ubiquitous tools. and United Association of Plumbers Most often, the injuries come through the use of guns with a and Pipefitters (NIOSH representa- contact-trip trigger – a mechanism that can fire nine nails per tives also participate). The group first surveyed local apprenticeship second, since firing occurs whenever the gun tip and trigger are directors to assess current instruc- both depressed. Some 40,000 tion and practice related to LEV use. people go to emergency rooms per Approximately 60% of respondents year with nail gun injuries; more said LEV was rarely or never used in than 60% are construction workers. their area. The team then developed The stories are heart-wrenching a draft training module and is now enough to read about, but “when revising the draft based on the input you’re sitting across from someone of fourth-year apprentice pipefitters. The pilot training program will be face to face, that is very telling,” field tested in three regions of the Patterson said. U.S. and finalized with input from Led by Duke University Medical the Advisory Group. Center researcher Hester Lipscomb, the study showed that nail gun Immigrant Day models with sequential trigger Laborers and Peer-to-Peer mechanisms are much safer. Safety Training Eliminating the contact trip guns and training workers on the sequen- Evaluating the Efficacy of Safety Hester Lipscomb (top) leads the tial trigger likely would make a huge Liaisons and Worker Training research team that includes Dennis dent in the injury toll. Patterson and James Nolan. Lead Researcher: Michele Ochsner, PhD “The contact trip triggers are Rutgers University just too fast,” says Nolan, venting frustration at the unnecessary ver the past year, the team at injuries. “This isn’t right. It isn’t fair to our youngsters.” ORutgers Occupational Training Because of the guns’ wide consumer use, mainstream media and Education Consortium (OTEC) noticed the research. The Sacramento Bee published investigative and New Labor made significant articles and a gripping account of a fatal injury. More important, progress in developing a network of OSHA and NIOSH jointly issued a comprehensive guidance safety liaisons among day laborers document in 2011, advising on sequential trigger use. in northern New Jersey. The safety liaison program was designed to Nolan received the best kind of recruit a team of potential safety evidence that his work is bearing fruit. leaders to be peer trainers of day “The safety officer for the largest home- laborers and identify safety hazards builder in Missouri told me that getting on job sites. Once trained, these rid of the contact trip trigger nail gun safety liaisons would be capable of was ‘the best thing our company ever monitoring safety conditions in did’ for a safer worksite,” Nolan said. North Jersey residential construction sites, educating their peers on

12 health and safety issues, and inter- contract asthma from this exposure vening when they witnessed job may never fully recover: although site hazards. their symptoms may diminish, their The safety liaison program is asthma may persist after they leave part of a series of projects based on insulation work. Unfortunately, peer-led training programs aimed at once such workers develop asthma, immigrant day laborers in light of exposures such as dusts, particulates, their increased profile in the fumes, and cold weather can residential construction workforce. exacerbate their asthma, making Stepping up from the role of safety employment in other segments of trainer to safety liaison was a the construction industry difficult. significant shift for the workplace activists, who were now expected to Making Concrete exercise judgment and initiative in Drilling Easier the field. When spotting an obvious safety hazard, they would have to Redlich’s team wants to know … how safe is spray foam insulation for the workers using it? Highway and Bridge decide: should I approach the Construction Drilling supervisor or foreman to resolve the Lead Researcher: David Rempel, MD, MPH situation? Should I urge the trades- Investigating Spray- University of California, San Francisco men and the tradeswoman to stop Foam Insulation and work until the hazard is removed? Occupational Asthma ith insights gained from Should I go so far as to contact W the success of his overhead OSHA and make a report? Assessment and Prevention drill press (see page 9 IMPACT), The liaisons have begun of Isocyanate Exposures in Dr. David Rempel has pivoted to an organizing regular ‘consejos’ or the Construction Industry even heavier project. Rempel’s team ‘worker councils’ every three weeks is developing a new device to help Lead Researcher: Carrie Redlich, MD, MPH featuring demonstrations of safety construction laborers better wield Yale University issues as well as strategy discussions. 30-lb. pneumatic rock drills and The liaisons have also performed he popularity of polyurethane 20-lb. electric combi hammers used more than 100 “curbside safety T spray-foam insulation is grow- to renovate bridges or buildings. audits” documenting predominant ing by leaps and bounds. A highly A “seismic upgrade” to prepare a industry safety hazards, finding that effective insulation, it is popular large structure to resist earthquakes, 56% of scaffolds had a level, stable with homeowners, businesses and or renovation of an overpass bearing base but only 23% featured fall government agencies who want to tens of thousands of vehicles per protection. Hard hats were provided cut utility bills and environmen- day, frequently requires pouring and worn on fewer than 40% of talists who want to reduce energy new supporting concrete that must job sites. consumption. But how safe is it for be “tied in” to the original structure. Interventions by the liaisons the workers who apply it? This means drilling large diameter have eliminated major hazards Carrie Redlich is taking a close holes in the concrete – often tens from multiple worksites (see page 6 look at this question. The major of thousands of them – in order to IMPACT). For those cases in polyurethane spray foams contain insert heavy rebar dowels. Rempel’s which contractors refuse to fix isocyanates, tertiary amine catalysts, new “highway drill jig” permits a dangerous work situations, the blowing agents, and other chemi- machine, rather than the laborer’s liaisons have established a regular cals. Isocyanates, potent sensitizers, body, to absorb the punishing forces relationship with the regional OSHA are one of the leading causes of generated by the job. Field testing office through a bilingual staff occupational asthma; amines can of prototypes is underway at UC representative. Five complaints are irritate mucous membranes and Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, and currently under OSHA investigation cause blurred vision. the device has already been em- following referral by safety liaisons, The project has moved out of ployed on bridge and tunnel jobs and in one case a fine has already the lab and into the field. Among as well. been imposed. the few dozen workers surveyed, the But the stress on the body of a team has confirmed three cases of vibrating 30-lb. tool that must be isocyanate asthma. Workers who held in place and guided isn’t the

13 Research construction projects, comparing right angle for 20 minutes or more the new leading-indicator reward at a time welding the floor-level program at one site with a more studs, a posture virtually guaranteed traditional program at the other. to produce serious back pain. only hazard. Drilling into concrete During the new worker safety Ironworkers also could be exposed to produces dust laden with deadly orientation, tradesmen and trades- dangerous levels of toxic welding crystalline silica. So the team has women were briefed on a safety fume while engaged in this task. created a tool designed to accommo- incentive award program based Nathan Fethke and his team at date a cowl and dust capture system not on recorded injuries but on the University of Iowa received a that promises to reduce workers’ the result of workplace safety audits CPWR Small Study Grant to explore inhalation of silica in the course of by the site owner. If the monthly just how physically demanding this the work. Tests of the dust control overall site safety score at the task was on the body. The team element at the Laborers training leading-indicator site exceeded measured workers’ posture and center in Alameda County, Calif., 96.3%, all workers would receive a muscle effort using the conventional have successfully brought silica free lunch and be eligible to partici- approach and compared the results exposure levels below limits recom- pate in a free one-month parking with an alternative, tool-based mended by the National Institute spot raffle, giving workers an technique already in use by some on Occupational Safety and incentive to take preemptive action contractors. The alternative device is Health (NIOSH). for safety. At the traditional site, the a mobile cart with an adjustable arm rewards depended on achieving 60 Rewarding Safety injury-free days. without Discouraging Based on feedback and experi- Incident Reporting ence from this trial run, researchers have modified the program for full- Effectiveness of Employee Safety scale testing. Now branded as “Building Safety for Everyone: Incentives in Construction Building Safety for Every-one” and Lead Researcher: Jack Dennerlein, PhD featuring a full comple-ment of tool Harvard University box talks, hard hat stickers and f the superintendent gives work other supports, it will be tested I crews a reward or bonus for work- against traditional lagging-incentive ing 60 days without a recorded in- programs over the next three years. jury, is he encouraging workers to be By evaluating the performance of safe – or just to keep accidents and both systems in safety audits, the Traditional method: Toxic fume and aching injuries off the record? How can you researchers hope to gain valuable backs. tell? In the health and safety field, insight about the efficacy of both and much of the building industry, leading and lagging indicator safety there is a widespread concern that incentive programs. traditional behavior-based incentive Saving Ironworkers’ programs don’t work. There is an Backs and Lungs acknowledged desire for an empiri- cally proven alternative. Ergonomics and Welding Fume Jack Dennerlein and his team at Exposure during Stud Welding Harvard have designed a study that Lead Researcher: Nathan Fethke, PhD intends to do both, by focusing on University of Iowa leading rather than lagging indicators of safe practices, and creating a tud welding is a grueling, reward program based on leading Srepetitive task for the ironwork- indicators, eliminating the perverse ers who perform it, whether on a incentive to underreport injuries. beam for a bridge span or on the Over the past year, Dennerlein’s steel decking for the concrete floor team put the program through a trial of a commercial building. The run on two major Harvard-owned worker is hunched over at almost a New method: No stooping, no fume.

14 to hold the arc welder, allowing workers to weld in an upright position, reducing back strain and A STORY OF possibly fume inhalation. Research- IMPACT ers confirmed that the tool offered relief to workers’ backs but that Preventing Falls manipulating the adjustable arm increased demands on their shoulder If you ask Andy Smoka to name muscles. The manufacturer respond- the ideal place to show the DVD ed to these findings and is modify- Don’t Fall For It!, his answer just ing the tool. may be “yes.” Fethke’s promising findings As an early adopter of CPWR’s from the pilot study led him to seek 11-minute industry-standard ladder – and receive – CPWR support for a comprehensive follow-up study. The safety program, Smoka keeps Don’t team will measure workers’ exposure Fall For It! in his training toolbox for myriad uses. It’s critical in an to welding fumes using the two industry where falls are the leading cause of death, and where methods and repeat his measure- ladders cause nearly one-fourth of fall injuries. ments of posture and muscle effort Smoka is the Principal Safety Consultant for Minnesota OSHA with a larger sample of ironworkers. Consultation, with some 40 years in the field. His work touches apprentices, foremen, building owners and everyone in between. Seeking a Better Way He presents the DVD during closing conferences following inspec- to Measure Health and tions, in OSHA-500 training sessions, in mandatory re-license Safety Performance sessions for contractors, and in on-request awareness sessions for students and Safety and Health Metrics others. More than 1,100 people have Lead Researcher: Janie Gittleman, PhD viewed it as part of Smoka’s training CPWR sessions, he estimates; 600 were contrac- s a construction contractor, tors going for their license renewals. A how can you tell if your team While those viewings most often have is meeting the mark in health and occurred in classrooms, he adds, “If I see safety? Up until now the building Principal Safety Consultant any situation where a person misuses a industry has lacked a useful, consis- Andy Smoka, Minnesota OSHA Consultation tent, and objective system of health ladder, I will pull out my laptop and show and safety metrics for assessing firm the DVD in a jobsite office. I’ll show the foremen and leave copies performance. Securing one is the so they can play it for the rest of the workers.” ambitious goal of Dr. Gittleman’s Don’t Fall For It! is an eye-opener for many who insist that they project. already know all the ladder-safety rules before watching the DVD. Gittleman has assembled a At the very least, it “reminds workers of what they’re supposed to wide-ranging Metrics Advisory do” to work safely, Smoka says. Committee including not just And the need is great. “We’ve had two fatalities of workers general contractors and construction owners, but health and safety who were standing on top of a two-foot-high stepladder.” consultants, academics, insurance company representatives, and federal, state and local government unreported. Moreover, turning from The researchers organized focus regulators. Their task was to find such “lagging indicators” to “leading groups with hundreds of construc- measurements that went beyond indicators,” like adoption of best tion firms, small and large, from factors like recorded injuries – which practices, can put the industry a step every part of the United States, that at best offer only a retrospective ahead, intervening before accidents rated hundreds of potential metrics measurement of safety, and often happen rather than just counting proposed by the advisory commit- not even that when injuries go them later. tee. They found a remarkable degree

15 Research A STORY OF IMPACT of consensus on the 12 most important areas for evaluating safety ‘A Critical Reference‘ conditions and practices before an accident occurs: One of CPWR’s most-requested products is The Construction Chart Book: The U.S. •฀ Accountability฀of฀supervisors฀ Construction Industry and Its Workers. for their safety responsibilities High demand for its reliable data interpre- •฀ Inclusion฀of฀safety฀and฀health฀ in project planning tations and engaging graphics on economics, employment, training, and safety and health •฀ Reporting฀of฀unsafe฀conditions฀ by employees has confirmed the Chart Book’s status as “…a •฀ Involvement฀of฀employees฀in฀job฀ critical reference source for anyone…interested hazard analysis in the construction industry and its workers,” •฀ Site-specific฀hazard฀training฀for฀ according to David Weil of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of everyone on the job Government and the Boston University School of Management. •฀ Pre-task฀safety฀and฀health฀briefings CPWR has distributed some 2,600 print copies of the book’s •฀ Elimination฀of฀hazards฀and฀risks fourth edition since its 2008 release. Registered with the Library •฀ Creating฀and฀following฀safe฀ of Congress, the Chart Book is offered on Amazon.com, Yankee work procedures Book Peddler’s A-Plus list, and World Cat. Academic listserves and •฀ Site-specific฀training฀for฀safety฀ industry, labor and government press all have spread the word of •฀ Employee฀knowledge฀of฀ the book’s availability. construction hazards Also in 2008, the Chart Book was posted on cpwr.com and on •฀ Employee฀ability฀to฀identify฀ the eLCOSH online database. It has received a combined 45,132 hazards page-views at the two sites. •฀ New฀employee฀orientation฀ When viewed online, the Chart Book material is especially rich. and training It includes hot links to source data from the Bureau of Labor Statis-

The next challenge for Gittleman tics and charts that are available in presentation-ready Powerpoint. and her team is to create valid Each year, about a dozen peer-reviewed journal articles have measurements for each of the 12 cited Chart Book information. Its data has been referenced in several categories and to test them in the reports by The National Academies Press and in numerous other field. Twenty-three contractors publications, including a report on Latinos in construction by the across the United States have already National Council of La Raza, a Rhode Island examination of the committed to participate. construction skills gap, a Cornell study on project labor agreements in New York, and an article on advances in dissemination of safety Translating Research information by EHS Today. Into Action A fifth edition of the Chart Book is scheduled to roll out by early 2013. r2p: “Research to Practice” Lead Researcher: Robin Baker, MPH, CPWR

n the fall of 2010, CPWR the trenches and on the steel.” ships for prevention. A newly I launched a new effort to amplify A three-pronged approach includes: established r2p Working Group the impact of construction health developing effective dissemination with representatives from CPWR, and safety research. The Research to plans for current and completed OSHA and NIOSH coordinates and Practice (r2p) program seeks to link research, launching research transla- enhances the r2p efforts. researchers with those who make tion projects for high priority In recent years a partnership of health and safety decisions “in findings, and promoting partner- labor, management, government

16 agencies, manufacturers and occupa- tors, workers and other stake- safety and health innovations may tional health professionals helped holders to use to identify silica never leave the pages of a journal or reduce paving workers’ exposure to exposures and controls, and put become commercially available. hazardous asphalt fumes. In 2011, them into practice. The Masonry Industry Research the r2p Group began an in-depth to Practice (r2p) Partnership is a •฀฀ Nail Gun Facts. Thanks to the case study of the asphalt partnership pioneering effort to build such a work of Dr. Lipscomb and her as a model of successful action, and partnership from the ground up. team, word is getting out about sponsored the first of several new In 2011 representatives from the the thousands of workers who partnerships – the Masonry r2p International Union of Bricklayers visit emergency rooms each year Partnership (see below). Partnerships and Allied Craftworkers, the due to the contact-trip trigger targeting fall prevention among International Council of Employers nail gun, or “bump gun.” In 2011 Latino workers are in formation. and the International Masonry Lipscomb’s research informed a CPWR’s r2p staff has designed a Institute, developed a list of joint NIOSH-OSHA guidance systematic approach for reviewing craft-specific occupational hazards document, “Nail Gun Safety: A and prioritizing research for r2p, and interventions and reviewed Guide for Construction Contrac- inspiring quick starts for three them with more than 100 labor tors.” Several months later, critical projects: and management representatives to Lipscomb’s team launched a new establish safety and health priori- •฀ Tech Transfer. Too often, it website, www.nailgunfacts.org. ties. This list of priorities will guide seems, promising safety innova- (For details, see Dr. Lipscomb’s the Partnership’s efforts in 2012 tions remain isolated on univer- report on page 7.) The r2p and beyond. sity campuses while industry Working Group is working to One area where both workers and soldiers on with yesterday’s get these vital resources out contractors see promise is a greater techniques – and construction in the industry. use of powered “mast climbing” or workers pay the price in unneces- other adjustable scaffolds. Such sary injuries. The technology scaffolding enables workers to transfer initiative seeks to smooth perform work between knee and the path from the classroom to shoulder height – reducing the risk the construction site for tech- of musculoskeletal injuries and often nologies that advance worker improving productivity as well. To safety. A May 2012 symposium encourage contractors to consider bringing together academic mast climbers and to promote the researchers and construction safe use of this type of scaffold the professionals with equipment Partnership launched a new mast tool manufacturers will explore climber website. This one-stop drivers and barriers for technol- resource includes information on ogy transfer in our industry. the productivity benefits, new •฀ Silica-safe Website. Significant research, safety and training pro- research is available on silica grams, purchasing and rental exposures and related controls. resources, rules and regulations, The research findings as well as Dr. Hester Lipscomb’s research on nail and related news articles. Informa- information on controls devel- guns provided the basis for an OSHA-NIOSH tion on mast climbers generated oped in response are dispersed guidance document on nail gun safety by the Partnership is available on for contractors. throughout many different the CPWR website and has been websites and publications. As published in both union and a result, many stakeholders are Making Masonry Safer with trade publications. still unaware of the seriousness an r2p Industry Partnership In other areas the Partnership: of the hazard and believe it is not The key to moving research to feasible to control silica dust. This practice in the construction industry •฀ documented฀and฀evaluated฀their฀ new website will address these is a successful partnership with activities and progress in order to misperceptions by providing a major industry stakeholders. develop a model r2p partnership, one-stop, user-friendly source of Without buy-in from workers and •฀ initiated฀discussions฀with฀ practical information for contrac- contractors, the most promising equipment manufacturers to

17 Research spread of dust by creating a wall of high-pressure airflow, and is undergoing field testing by a bridge substructure repair contrac- address safety issues surrounding tor. Meanwhile, researchers are masonry tools and equipment, working with a large demolition •฀ surveyed฀masonry฀contractors฀ contractor to test whether supple- and workers to establish baseline mental water pressure can increase industry measures of health and the efficacy of water cannons in safety practices, and suppressing dust. The research team also is creating a database of •฀ worked฀with฀other฀CPWR฀teams฀ commercially available dust controls to evaluate engineering controls for hand tools. to reduce workers’ exposure to On the noise reduction front, the airborne silica. Breaking tile, not backs, can be done with a University of Massachusetts, Lowell ride-on floor scraper, the “Terminator.” team identified leaking air hoses as a Working with Business major – and easily remedied – con- During 2011, Dr. Welch’s co- and Labor for Better tributor to noise hazards on sites investigators at Washington Univer- Respiratory and with pneumatic tools in use. sity in St. Louis worked with the Hearing Protection Researchers are working with the St. Louis-area District Council of contractors to assess the perfor- Carpenters and a group of floor- Partnering to Prevent Exposure mance of ”noise-perimeter zone laying contractors whose workers to Silica, Dust and Noise in control” strategies in which areas are represented by the union. A Construction and Demolition with dangerous noise levels are close analysis of Carpenters’ health identified, marked and designated insurance fund claims will in time Project Director: Susan Woskie, PhD for limited access. provide clues to the joints and body University of Massachusetts, Lowell parts most at risk. An initial review ivil construction and “knock- Work Shouldn’t has shown that the Carpenters’ C down” building demolition Be a Chronic Pain health and welfare fund, rather than often call for breaking up significant the workers’ comp carrier, is bearing volumes of concrete and masonry. Participatory Ergonomics most of the costs of treating these Such work means a construction site job-related injuries. Lead Researcher: Laura Welch, MD, CPWR thick with jackhammers, compres- The carpenters were often sors, and perhaps wrecking balls or very year, tens of thousands able to identify not just the location other heavy equipment. For laborers E of construction workers suffer of the discomfort and MSDs they employed there it also often means sprains, strains and cumulative experienced laying carpet and tile, heavy exposure to two well-estab- stress/repetitive motion musculosk- but also commercially available lished workplace hazards: airborne eletal problems that cost days off solutions – like substituting a crystalline silica dust and excessive work. An even greater number of mechanical carpet stretcher for a noise levels. Consequently, too workers endure chronic pain knee-kicker when stretching carpet many construction workers face an without taking a day off – too often, tight before tacking it down. How- old age marred by lung damage and earning their weekly paycheck by ever, a number of available ergonom- hearing loss. enduring permanent physical ic solutions remain on the shelf – or Dr. Susan Woskie and Dr. Susan damage. Identifying the characteris- the showroom, such as the powered, Shepherd of the University of tic tasks of each trade most punish- ride-on floor scraper used to remove Massachusetts at Lowell are working ing for the human body, and old tile when remodeling. The team with civil contractors and laborers proposing alternatives, can’t be is currently identifying barriers that represented by the Laborers’ done in the lab alone. It’s best keep firms and employees from District Council to test multiple achieved through participatory adopting these ergonomic solutions methods of dust control on the job. ergonomics that relies on the as standard industry practices. Dr. Shepherd has designed an “air insights of workers and contractors curtain” dust control for the job in the field to identify problems and site: this device minimizes the seek practical solutions.

18 Big Findings in CPWR Small Studies

The CPWR Small Studies program is a little like simply to preserve their own health. venture capital for safety and health scholars. Researcher: Debra Chaplan, MS, State Building Applicants submit proposals for novel exploratory and Construction Trades Council of California. research projects with a budget of up to $30,000. These theory-building exercises can pave the way • Latino construction workers in Illinois filing for a full-scale study – or illustrate unforeseen workers’ compensation insurance claims received problems with an innovative idea. significantly smaller awards than white, non- Small studies can test big ideas. A survey Hispanic workers with similar injuries. This of 2004-2009 small study authors found that discovery emerged after researchers linked over 60% had published their findings in peer- findings from the Illinois Workers Compensation reviewed journals, and a similar number reported Commission with two medical record databases: that their small study work led to additional the Illinois Trauma Registry and the Hospital research proposals. Notable 2011 small study Discharge Database. Researcher: Lee Freidman, discoveries included: PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago.

• Workers’ compensation claims filed by older • Green building may expose workers to additional workers were significantly more costly than those dangers on the job. Several LEED (Leadership in filed by their younger counterparts. Observers Energy and Environmental Design) credits of the aging construction workforce will be promoted by the US Green Building Council are interested to learn that the medical costs of a associated with increased risk exposure – for claim increased 1.1% for each year’s increase in instance, age over 18, and the indemnity costs of a claim installing solar – largely, lost wages and benefits – increased panels and 3.5% for each year. (Since other researchers green roofs have demonstrated that older workers file claims can mean less frequently than younger workers, it is not complicated possible to say which group is actually generates procedures higher per capita costs.) Researcher: John performed at Rosecrance, PhD, Colorado State University. dangerous heights. In Installing solar panels to save the planet also comes with associated risk. • Motivating positive ergonomic changes in the interviews, industry may require two distinct campaigns, contractors and engineering professionals one targeted at employers and another at involved in green building projects perceived a workers. Researchers in California found that 36% increase in lacerations, strains and sprains contractors needed to be assured that from recycling construction materials; a 24% ergonomic tools would not reduce worker increase in falls to lower level during roof work productivity, but were receptive if they because of the installation of on-site renewable promised to reduce workers comp insurance energy (e.g., PV panels); a 19% increase in eye costs. Workers – who often prided themselves strain when installing reflective roof membranes; on the ability to work through pain – said that and a 14% increase in exposure to harmful they would be more likely to adopt ergonomic substances when installing innovative techniques “for their families” and because wastewater technologies. Researcher: Matthew they “couldn’t afford to get injured” than Hallowell, PhD, University of Colorado.

19 Research Training

Delivering critical safety and model. Their students engage in health information to apprentices, interactive learning experiences journeyworkers and even through hands-on manipulation contractors is not necessarily of equipment and real-world situations. Instructors put the The ‘fall that didn’t learning in context: students share happen’ or the the hazards they’ve encountered at ‘fatality that didn’t work or break into groups to assess occur’ may be the controls for a safety problem or best impact of all. health threat. They participate in simulations to know how to handle an easy task. As any teacher, a critical situation when it happens. professor or instructor knows, This is the model used in all CPWR adult learners are often eager for programs: hazardous waste information, particularly if they’ve removal, confined space, general chosen the class. But even the safety training, and disaster most attentive student can get response. The impact of CPWR bleary-eyed watching a lengthy training is obvious in what the Powerpoint presentation or students and trainers say. The listening to a lecture-only format. impact that’s not obvious is the CPWR understands adult “fall that didn’t happen” because learners – and has understood of ladder safety instruction or the them from day one. Our trainers “fatality that didn’t occur” because understand people in the building a worker knew not to venture into trades because our trainers are the a confined space without first building trades. They live and testing the air. Isn’t that the best breathe the peer-led training impact of all?

20 “Every construction worker needs to take this course. It could save lives.”

An average of 10,000 unionIMPACT members are being trained every month in OSHA 10-hour courses. Training trades unions, construction contrac- an OSHA-7600 card upon comple- tors, and local emergency personnel, tion of the class. CPWR’s training curriculum was The program has been deployed designed around an interactive DVD across the country, and now more Building a Reserve Army and led by an experienced trainer. than 5,000 union tradesmen and of Disaster Responders Workers learn about typical dangers tradeswomen in cities from the of a disaster scene and have an East Coast to the West Coast stand More than 5,000 Building opportunity to explore life-or-death ready to respond in the event of a Trades Union Members Stand decisions well before they confront major disaster. Ready to Answer when Duty Calls them in the field, and are awarded

eptember 11, 2011 marked the S10th anniversary of the horrific A STORY OF terror attacks on the twin towers IMPACT in New York. CPWR joined other Americans in remembering the con- struction workers who rushed to the Electricians Charge to the Rescue scene to assist in rescue operations. after Joplin Tornado Day after day, week after week, these heroes in hard hats toiled to clear “Whenever our the steel, concrete and hazardous apprentice or debris in a search first for survivors journeyman electri- and then for remains. Volunteers put cians come in for their life and health at risk in those OSHA 10-hour early days to use their trade skills to safety training, help at Ground Zero. I push them hard Two things were soon evident. First, emergency responders at the to take the OSHA scene of massive natural or man- 7600 Disaster made disasters desperately needed Response class the assistance of experienced too,” said IBEW journeyworkers who could safely Local 124 Instructor AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS address live electrical wires, broken Justin Brockway. “As Construction workers trained in disaster response were welcome after a tornado strike on Joplin, Mo., 2011. gas mains, torn asbestos pipe a former firefighter, insulation, and towers of crumbled I recognize just how much our tradesmen and tradeswomen can steel and masonry. Second, construc- offer to our first responders – if they have the proper training.” tion workers responding to a flood, earthquake or similar catastrophe That training by the Kansas City local union proved useful needed some special training on after the devastating May 2011 tornado strike on Joplin, Missouri. hazards common to the scene – and Electrician Bill Iiams had received the Disaster Response Training, in cooperating with the incident giving him and his colleagues at Green Wave Technology the command structure established by confidence and preparation to sweep into action a few hours the first responders. due south. CPWR answered the challenge in “We packed food, water and tools and brought the team down two different ways: first, by develop- to help,” said Green Wave General Manager and IBEW member ing and delivering a site safety and Mark Dresslaer. The National Guard had barricaded the roads, health orientation for Ground Zero workers, and second, by creating a realizing that untrained volunteers, however well-meaning, were new training curriculum: Disaster as likely to injure themselves as to help others. “But when we Site Training for Construction showed up, they sent us right through to the first responder Workers. Consulting with NIOSH, location. ‘You are exactly the people we need inside,’ they said.” OSHA, the firefighters’ and building

22 The 10 Hours That Can Save a Life: OSHA Training A STORY OF IMPACT ens of thousands of union T building trades workers de- Apprentice Attacks Unsafe Scaffold pend on CPWR’s National Resource Center for critical “OSHA 10” and after OSHA-10 Training “OSHA 30” occupational health and Insulator Apprentice Greg safety training. How do we do it, Chrisman had only been in with a staff of three? the program nine months but It begins with CPWR and an all-star team of 50 “master trainers” thanks to his CPWR/Insulators drawn from the ranks of every Union OSHA 10-hour training construction trade. These master he knew what to do when instructors gather every other year confronted with an unsafe at the National Labor College to scaffold. “Greg saw the learn about the latest health and contractor had a jerry-built safety developments, changes in scaffold together. He refused to OSHA regulations and guidance, work on it and the contractor and new worker protection tools and techniques. dismissed him,” explained The master trainers then fan Jonathan Hammock, training out among their brothers and sisters director for Insulators Union Jonathan Hammock, training director for and train a small army of outreach Local 86 in Hermitage, Tenn. Insulators Union Local 86, with Insulator Apprentice Greg Chrisman. instructors in each trade. Our corps “But Greg knew what he of outreach instructors includes was doing, and took a picture with his camera phone. When more than 5,000 craftsmen and he sent it to me, the agent and I went to the contractor and told craftswomen who have carried tools him unsafe work practices would not be tolerated. The superin- on the job and now are bringing tendent fixed the problem, and the union gave Greg a letter their passion for health and safety to fellow union members. of commendation.” Unlike many private and for- profit institutions delivering the 10- and 30-hour OSHA programs, CPWR relies exclusively on such worker-trainers, rather than safety professionals. Peer-to-peer training with hands-on exercises means a safety program that is tailored to your trade – and delivered by an instructor familiar with the lan- guage, tools and terms of your craft, and experienced in its characteristic challenges and hazards. And that’s how CPWR and our Building Trades partners brought safety training to 300,000 U.S. construction workers from coast to coast in the last three years. After OSHA 10-hour training, Apprentice Greg Chrisman refused to work on this jerry-built scaffold. The union stepped in to fix the unsafe condition; Chrisman received a commendation.

23 Training top-quality safety instruction for the union sector construction industry. Since Smart Mark was launched in 1997, more than 600,000 workers This Training Curriculum have been trained using it. The pro- Hits the Mark … for gram grew from 10 to 19 modules in More Than 600,000 2008, adding topics like Silica and U.S. Construction Workers Motor Vehicle Safety. In 2012, CPWR plans to help “ he Smart Mark program has the BCTD make the Smart Mark T been a tremendous success,” curriculum more readily available observed Building and Construc- to all building trades trainers via a tion Trades Department President secure Internet-based distribution Mark Ayers. “In the 10-hour pro- CPWR will help system. CPWR will also seek to gram alone, an average of 10,000 the BCTD make Smart expand the available topics to help union members are being trained instructors meet OSHA’s expanded every month.” For the past 15 years Mark more readily content requirements and evaluate CPWR and the Building Trades have available via a secure how building trades trainers and relied on their creative, customized unions embrace the new distribu- Smart Mark Curriculum to provide online system. tion system.

CPWR Hazardous Waste Worker Training Helps A STORY OF Union Construction IMPACT Workers Clean up America

What Instructors Say about cross the United States, the Delivering Training A CPWR and our 11 Building Trades Union partners in the Con- Our CPWR instructors take pride in the way their work has helped struction Consortium for Hazardous many students save life or limb, or just generally made the work- Waste Training exceeded training place safer and healthier. targets by more than 20%. In the process, some 5,095 workers, techni- • “ I receive comments all the time about how attending these cians and support staff learned how classes has made each employee more aware of their to protect themselves and safely surroundings and how trainees have been given the tools/ handle hazardous wastes. knowledge it takes to work safely on projects, as well as deal CPWR training programs are with management regarding safety issues.” widely admired for their use of worker-trainers. By recruiting • “During the training class, one can observe the light bulbs instructors from the ranks of go on in the student’s heads remembering jobs they have millions of experienced union performed and were not aware of the hazards they had tradesmen and tradeswomen, faced. No one had explained to them any of the potential CPWR is uniquely positioned to dangers or precaution the job entailed. Many students tap an incomparable human resource. The instructors bring to stated that they were glad to have attended the class.” bear a collective knowledge base in • “ Our contract is being negotiated, and I have recommended real-world construction that can’t OSHA language be included in our new contract and be beat, and students appreciate specifically a respiratory safety program with proper and respect their peer trainers. Of course, not every worker is fit testing.” a natural-born trainer. That’s why CPWR relies on a corps of master

24 instructors who administer “train- the-trainer” courses and mentor new instructors as they teach their first A STORY OF courses. CPWR also provides the IMPACT instructors with updated instruction- al materials and training enhance- How do you clean up a nuclear weapons site? ments as they continue in their Q: health and safety training careers. With a HAMMER The 274 courses and nearly A: 80,000 training “contact hours” For more than five decades, administered under the National the Department of Energy Institute of Environmental Health made Hanford, a small town Sciences (NIEHS) grant covered in Washington state, synony- Hazardous Waste, Confined Space, Asbestos, Fall Protection, Scaffold, mous with our nation’s OSHA 10 and OSHA 500, among security. The nuclear reactors others. A new addition this year there processed the plutonium was Lead Renovation, Repair and for the atom bomb that ended Painting class (see below). World War II and for the nuclear weapons that kept Got Training? Hanford is the single Getting the Lead Out: biggest site of CPWR-NIEHS hazardous America safe for the duration New NIEHS/CPWR Program waste training. on Lead Renovation, Repair, of the Cold War – decades of and Painting (RRP) service that generated massive quantities of radioactive waste. The latest addition to the CPWR In 1989, the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection training consortium’s Hazardous Agency and the State of Washington agreed on a plan to Waste Training curriculum comes restore the site by removing or remediating the billions of gallons courtesy of the Environmental of liquid waste and tons of solid waste left behind by Protection Agency. the nuclear operations. Lead-based paint was banned Today, with over 11,000 workers involved in the cleanup, from residential use in 1978, for Hanford is the single biggest site of CPWR-NIEHS Hazardous waste good reason. Even ingesting small training. In the last program year, 1,802 tradesmen and trades- amounts of lead put children at risk of brain damage and learning women were trained to safely participate in hazardous waste disabilities. remediation at Hanford in the state-of-the art Hazardous Materials Millions of homes and schools Management and Emergency Response – or HAMMER – facility. built before 1978 still have walls Workers benefit from the instruction of fellow tradesmen and and trim coated in lead-based paint. tradeswomen, all of whom still work at the Hanford site when Undisturbed and kept in good repair not teaching, and enjoy unique training opportunities – like this poses little danger, but when an exercise where they suit up in protective gear and enter a construction workers perform simulated contaminated site. renovation work, the chips and dust fly and children are put at risk. That’s why the EPA issued its “Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting” rule in April 2010. developed curriculum and supple- Minority Worker Under “RRP,” contractors and menting it with dynamic hands-on Training Program journeyworkers whose renovation or activities. CPWR, now an EPA-ac- repair work will disturb lead paint in credited Lead RRP training provider, a home, school or child care facility offered its inaugural class for hile there are countless must first be trained in lead-safe members of the International W “job training” programs practices. CPWR responded to the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in on the books, the building trades’ challenge, incorporating the EPA- Binghamton, N.Y., in June 2011. unions apprenticeship and training

25 Training A STORY OF IMPACT programs are uniquely positioned for success. Graduates report to union hiring halls and are placed at An Industry Where Women are the Minority work with union-signatory contrac- CPWR’s Minority Worker Training Provides Keeley Entry into tors, making for rates of job place- Cement Masons, Leadership ment that put the average vocational training program to shame. CPWR administers a federal grant When you say “minority” in America, people generally think to provide safety and health training about racial and linguistic groups. But in construction, women to disadvantaged workers in under- are the minority. While black and Latino workers are now seen in represented groups in three cities virtually every corner of the industry, men near EPA Superfund sites. The U.S. outnumber women in the trades by more government launched the program to give workers in the communities than 25 to one. Today the Minority Worker affected by the hazards the skills to Training Program is giving women a new be employed in their cleanup and path into the profession. abatement. CPWR and its partners When the Minneapolis plant where in the building trades have done Jessica Keeley had worked closed down these workers one better – not only 10 years ago, she was thrown out of work – training them, but placing them in and looking for a new career. Fortunately jobs with union contractors per- Jessica Keeley, OPCMIA she encountered CPWR’s Minority Worker forming cleanup work and giving Training Program, a federally funded program that helps women them a career ladder into good construction careers when that and minority workers find a path to good union jobs in construc- work is finished. tion. The pre-apprenticeship program allowed her to try her hand To make maximum use of federal at each of the trades, and Keeley took quickly to the work of the grant dollars, CPWR taps into its cement mason. She was soon indentured as an apprentice at existing networks and resources. By OPCMIA Local 633. working with building trades unions “For a woman, a career in construction is a good place to learn and community-based organiza- about your strength and character – working with all men,” she tions, CPWR gains access to skilled said. She won the respect of her male colleagues and was elected instructors working in well-equipped to two terms on the union’s executive board. training centers. In addition to the Superfund-focused hazardous waste When asked her most memorable job, it was no contest: workers classes, students receive building the new Twins Stadium. “We were doing pours one after training in asbestos abatement, another in the heat of the summer,” she said. “It was the hardest scaffold erection, basic construction job I ever did, but now I can look back at it and say, I built that. techniques, adult literacy, job “We built it with readiness, and life skills. union hands, with skill, The National Institute for pride, safety and quality Environmental Health Sciences in mind,” said Keeley. (NIEHS) awarded the Minority Work- er Training Program a new five-year “I would definitely NIEHS Grant in 2010. In its past recommend a career program year, CPWR recruited 311 in construction to other applicants in its three targeted women I know.” communities of East Palo Alto, Keeley poured concrete for Calif., St. Paul, Minn., and New Twins Stadium: “I built that.” Orleans, La. Sixty-three of these were

26 admitted for training, and the program secured a remarkable 95% graduation rate. (In contrast, only A STORY OF 50% of U.S. students who enroll in IMPACT college complete their degrees!) Despite the challenges of the What Students Say about CPWR Training economic downturn, fully 80% were placed in jobs averaging a Peer instructors – all of whom are current or former tradesmen respectable $14.77/hour wage. and tradeswomen – are the cornerstone of all CPWR safety and health training programs. The instructors’ combination of techni- Progress in East Palo Alto cal knowledge and real-world experience is a hit with class partici- How does the union connection pants as this post-training feedback attests … boost the CPWR success rate in the Minority Worker Training Program? “Great course. Every construction worker needs to take this course. It could save lives.”

The program secured “I have turned in a couple of egregious workplace hazards to authorities since the training.” a remarkable 95% “It was a great class, well informative, wonderful instructors graduation rate. who really knew their stuff. I really enjoyed the hands-on Only 50% of U.S. activities.” college students “I would like to thank the local and OSHA for training me complete degrees. on many issues I knew nothing about. The class was very informative.”

“Instructors discussed the highs and lows of confined space Well, the San Francisco Public Utility training. This other company I had worked for didn’t go into Commission and San Francisco detail like these guys did, also with the hands on.” Building Trades negotiated a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) ensuring “I believe I learned what I need to know to be safe and get that contractors enjoying public through an emergency.” contracts for infrastructure upgrades “This course improved my knowledge on job sites. I have will place community residents on learned what it takes to be safer around chemicals. I learned these work sites. Already eight program graduates have found work also to be safe and aware of what one is working around.” as laborers or operators on these utility upgrade projects, some with leading national contractors like Granite Construction and Kiewit. Of East Palo Alto’s 32 graduates, 27 are currently working as apprentices among various trades. CPWR’s Hazardous Waste Worker, OSHA-30, and Confined Space training helped prepare students for this industry.

Hands-on training gets a thumbs up from students.

27 Service

Our nation asked much of the Congress eventually moved men and women who dedicated to establish a program to evaluate their career and very lives to the the medical condition of those intense and secretive work of workers. In 1996 the Building producing nuclear weapons. From Trades National Medical Screening World War II to the sputtering end Program (BTMed) began reaching out to the trades to connect with Who asked the members and retirees who construction workers in worked at these Department of these plants to sacrifice Energy nuclear facilities. Since that their health – or even time, BTMed has reached more life – for this effort? than 24,000 affected workers. The impact of the program is felt of the Cold War, government individually by the thousands of and civilian workers toiled in giant workers who have gone through plants, often in remote locations, the medical screening program – to maintain a nuclear supremacy and by their families. The workers for this country. are proud of their contributions, But what of the workers even though they were who built new structures at unwittingly exposed to toxic these facilities? Or repaired and materials. The results are clear: a maintained the existing buildings? 98.3% satisfaction rating among Or even demolished old buildings BTMed participants. So read the where hazardous materials once stories and feel the impact. were used? Who asked them to sacrifice their health – or even life – for this effort?

28 “This program saved my life.”

— Dan Obray, Painter Idaho National Lab

BTMed has screenedIMPACT more than 24,000 of these unsung heroes since its start in 1996. Service and elevated risks of more conven- tional hazards like lung disease, BTMed is the largest hearing loss and chronic obstructive medical evaluation pulmonary (lung) disorder or COPD. Building Trades National In order to protect the workers Medical Screening program of older who protected us, the Building Program (BTMed) Trades National Medical Screening construction workers Program (BTMed) was created. The BTMed program has in U.S. history. BTMed provides free medical been coordinated by CPWR screening for workers once em- since inception in 1996, and ployed by construction contractors is supported by the Building or subcontractors on Department and Construction Trades Department of Energy, which of Energy (DOE/AEC) sites. With Department, AFL-CIO. inherited their oversight from the a work history interview followed Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). by a medical exam, BTMed helps Operations at these nuclear identify health problems in time for hey were the sites where weapons facilities began during the medical intervention. T the Manhattan Project was Second World War and continued BTMed has screened more than launched. They were the sites where for decades. Workers there daily – 24,000 of these unsung heroes since World War II was won. They were and often unknowingly – found its 1996 inception, including 2,500 the sites where the weapons were themselves exposed to hazardous workers in the past fiscal year. The made that protected us during substances like asbestos, beryllium, cumulative medical findings from the Cold War. They were sites cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, BTMed show that many former across the country where hundreds radiation, silica, toxic solvents. As a DOE construction workers are of thousands of construction result, many would battle unfore- afflicted by conditions that are workers labored to ensure our seen illnesses years down the road. much less prevalent in the general national security. They were the Today they face both unique population. For instance, 18.2% of sites that bore the seal of the conditions like beryllium sensitivity BTMed participants exhibited

Hanford

Battelle Labs — King Ave. & DOE/AEC Sites Idaho National Lab Mound West Jefferson GE Evendale Fernald Brookhaven

Rocky Flats Mallinckrodt Portsmouth Yucca Mountain Kansas City Plant Weldon Spring Paducah Oak Ridge

Savannah River Site

Pinellas

Amchitka

30 symptoms consistent with work- related lung disease, a condition afflicting only 7% of the general A STORY OF population. There was an even IMPACT greater difference when it came to COPD: 22.5% exhibited symptoms BTMed Detects Disease, Prompts of this condition, in comparison to only 7.1% of the general popula- Participant to Promote Program tion. Although 35.9% of the general UA Local 598 member awarded compensation for illness found through BTMed Screening

Health Impairments in BTMed Participants and General U.S. Population “Every year at Hanford, I had to

60 give a blood sample,” Courtland Smith explained, “and every year, General Population 45 BTMed it came back clean. It wasn’t until I went through the Building Trades 30 National Medical Screening Pro- gram that I found out I’d been 15 sensitized to beryllium.” Beryllium,

Percent of Individuals with Health Percent a rare element, is critical to the 0 manufacture of nuclear devices. Courtland Smith COPD Lung Beryllium Hearing Disease Sensitivity Loss Because exposure is rare in most workplaces, symptoms of beryllium exposure can easily be overlooked or misdiagnosed. Smith worked on the Hanford site for a decade before this disease population demonstrated hearing caused his medical removal from the site. “I used beryllium tools loss for normal speech tones, 57.2% everyday on the tank farm because they are spark-resistant, of BTMed participants experienced hearing loss, which can mean not protecting against explosions. Until the day I was diagnosed, I hearing the voice of a spouse or the didn’t know anything about beryllium. Because the BTMed’s exam questions of a grandchild. checks for everything, I know all about that and much more. Perhaps the test result that most Some of my buddies have discovered other illnesses.” distinguishes former DOE construc- The experience convinced Smith to promote the BTMed tion workers from the general program with his colleagues. “If the fact that this program found a population is the 2.1% who tested disease Hanford couldn’t find doesn’t convince you to go through positive for beryllium sensitivity, a the program, I guess nothing will.” condition virtually unknown in the general population. These findings not only show the importance of BTMed’s service, but also encourage all former DOE construction workers obstructive pulmonary disease what levels of exposure demonstrate to take advantage of BTMed’s free (COPD). COPD, defined as the the greatest risk to health. medical screening. obstruction of airflow due to chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is the Early Lung Cancer New Study Underway fourth leading cause of death in the Detection (ELCD) In 2011, Duke University received nation and costs billions of dollars research funding from the National in annual health care expenses. The During the past year, BTMed Institute of Occupational Safety and three-year study will consist of 1,500 conducted a pilot screening pro- Health (NIOSH) to complete – in COPD cases and 1,500 control cases gram using low-dose CT-scans to conjunction with BTMed partners from BTMed participants. The identify lung cancer at its earliest – one of the largest studies ever of researchers seek to identify which stages, when the potential for occupational risks for chronic exposures increase COPD risk and effective treatment and survival are

31 Service a construction worker who com- pletes one job with a contractor can move on to another union construc- tion firm with no interruption in benefits. This system puts the “ I knew all our health was affected by unions in a unique position to our work, so I definitely wanted a physical verify work histories of members. to find out if anything was wrong,” says Although the construction firm Dan Obray, a painter who worked at the may have disappeared long ago, Idaho National Lab from 1979 to 2004. the health and welfare and pension “There’s not a big sign that says ‘Beryllium: funds remain with their record of hours worked. These records enable Keep Out.’ Instead, it can be in the dust CPWR to provide employment that settles on pipes, in tool chests, or just history information for workers about anywhere in a building where beryllium production has that are seeking compensation. been done.” Obray’s BTMed screening identified serious health With a track record of success, problems, but they were treatable. Left untreated, he may no CPWR received a five-year renewal longer be busy raising championship thorougbreds and quarter of its DOL contract in 2011 for this horses. He says, “This program saved my life.” critical task aiding workers and their families. — Dan Obray, IUPAT member, Idaho National Lab, 1979 – 2004

greatest. This pilot program covered IMPLEMENTING 100 former workers from Oak Ridge ORGANIZATIONS: and found 29 nodules needing •฀ CPWR฀–฀The฀Center฀for฀Construc- additional evaluation. For two 98.3% tion Research and Training participants immediate biopsies satisfaction rating •฀ Duke฀University were recommended. Twenty-seven •฀ University฀of฀Cincinnati participants had or will have a among •฀ Zenith฀Administrators฀ three-month follow-up scan. BTMed participants The purpose of the pilot program PARTNERS: was to develop detailed procedures The Building and Construction for a low-dose CT-scan for high-risk Trades Department, AFL-CIO with former DOE construction workers. contractors or to certain survivors support from: With additional funding from the of such individuals. But verifying •฀ Alaska฀State฀BCTC Department of Energy, the ELCD past employment can be difficult •฀ Augusta฀BCTC for construction workers, many of program could expand to cover more •฀ Central฀Washington฀BCTC participants from more DOE sites. whom were actually employed by •฀ Colorado฀State฀BCTC contractors and subcontractors who •฀ Dayton฀BCTC DOL EEOICPA may no longer be in business. That’s Employment Verification why the Dept. of Labor (DOL) con- •฀ Florida฀Gulf฀Coast฀BCTC tracted with CPWR in 2003 to assist •฀ Greater฀Cincinnati฀BCTC CPWR Begins First Year of in verifying construction workers’ •฀ Greater฀Kansas฀City฀BCTC Five-Year Renewed Contract employment. •฀ Idaho฀BCTC While employers in other •฀ Knoxville฀BCTC industries administer health and •฀ Nassau฀and฀Suffolk฀Counties฀BCTC he mission of the Energy welfare and pension benefit funds, •฀ Tri-State฀(Kentucky,฀Ohio,฀ Employees Occupational Illness in the building trades these trust T West Virginia) BCTC Compensation Program is to deliver funds are managed jointly by unions •฀ West฀Kentucky฀BCTC benefits to eligible employees and and employers to provide benefits former employees of the Department to workers employed by any •฀ St฀Louis฀BCTC of Energy, its contractors and sub- signatory contractor. That’s why

32 Recent Publications in Peer-reviewed Journals and Trade/Union Magazines

Akbar-Khanzadeh F, Milz SA, Wagner CD, Bisesi MS, Dong XS, Men Y, Ringen K [2010]. Work-related injuries Ames AL, Khuder S, Susi P, Akbar-Khanzadeh M [2010]. among Hispanic construction workers—Evidence from Effectiveness of dust control methods for crystalline silica the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. American Journal and respirable suspended particulate matter exposure of Industrial Medicine, 53:561–569 (PMID 20187004). during manual concrete surface grinding. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. Dong X, Wang X, Herleikson B [2010]. Work-Related December;7(12):700-11. Fatal and Nonfatal Injuries among the U.S. Construc- tion Workers, 1992-2008. MD: CPWR-The Center for BAC Journal [2011]. Craft Committees Identify Safety Construction Research and Training, November. and Health r2p Priorities, Issue 2, pp 5-7. www.cpwr.com

BAC Journal [2011]. New Mast Climber Website Dong XS, Fujimoto A [2010]. Health Insurance Coverage Launched by Masonry r2p Partnership, Issue 2, pp 7. and Health Care Utilization Among Hispanic Construc- tion Workers. CPWR Data Brief. Vol. 2, No 1. Aug 2010. Cigularov KP, Chen PY, Rosecrance J [2010]. The effects www.cpwr.com of error management climate and safety communication on safety: A multi-level study. Accident Analysis & Dong X, Wang X, Daw C [2010]. Fatal and Nonfatal Prevention, 42;1488-1497. Injuries among Hispanic Construction Workers, 1992- 2008. CPWR Data Brief. Vol. 2, No 2. Dec 2010. Cooper M, Susi P, Rempel D [2012]. Case study: www.cpwr.com Respirable silica and particulate exposure during lateral drilling of concrete. Journal of Occupational Fethke NB, Gant LC, Gerr F [2010]. Comparison of and Environmental Hygiene, Feb;9(2):D35-41. Biomechanical Loading During Use of Conventional Stud Welding Equipment and an Alternate System. DeArmond S, Smith A, Wilson C, Chen PY and Cigularov Applied Ergonomics, 2010 Dec 21. KP [2011]. Individual safety performance in the construc- tion industry: Development and validation of two short Flynn M and Susi P [in review]. Local exhaust ventilation scales. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43(3):948-54. for the control of welding fumes – issues in the construc- Epub 2011 Jan 7. tion industry. Journal of Occupational and Environmen- tal Hygiene. DeArmond S, Huang YH, Chen PY, Courtney T [2010]. Corporate Financial Decision Makers’ Perceptions of Fortunado B, Hallowell M, Behm M, Dewlaney K [2011]. their Company Safety Performance, Programs and Identification of Safety Risks for High Performance Personnel: Do Company Size and Industry Injury Risk Sustainable Construction Projects. ASCE Journal of Matter? WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, Construction Engineering and Management, posted & Rehabilitation, 37(1):3-14. ahead of print 4 July 2011.

Dong X, Wang X, Daw C. [In Press]. Fatal Falls among Gittleman J, Gardner P, Haile E, Sampson J, Cigularov KP, Older Construction Workers in the United States. Ermann ED, Stafford P, Chen PY [2010]. City Center and Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors Cosmopolitan Construction Projects, Las Vegas, Nevada: and Ergonomics Society. Lessons learned from the use of multiple sources and mixed methods in a safety needs assessment. Journal of Dong X, Fujimoto A, Ringen K, Stafford E, Platner J, Safety Research, 41, 263-291. Gittleman J, Wang X. [2011]. Injury underreporting among Small Establishments in the Construction HESIS [2011]. Drilling Overhead: Ways To Make A Industry. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Tough Job Easier. California Department of Public May 54(5):339-49. Health, Occupational Health Branch. March 1.

Dong X, Wang X, Daw C. [2011]. Chronic Diseases Hoffmeister K, Cigularov KP, Sampson J, Chen PY, and Functional Limitations among Older Construction Rosecrance JR [In press]. A perspective on effective Workers in the United States: A 10-Year Follow-Up Study. mentoring in the construction industry. Leadership and Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Organization Development Journal, 37(2):673-688. Apr 53(4):372-80.

33 Huang YH, Leamon TB, Courtney TK, Chen P, Occupational Health Watch on-line newsletter [2011]. DeArmond S [2011]. A comparison of workplace safety Drilling Overhead: Ways to Make a Tough Job Easier. perceptions among financial decision-makers of me- California Department of Public Health. April. dium- versus large-size companies. Accident Analysis & Prevention, Jan;43(1):1-10. Epub 2010 Sep 16. Rabito FA, Perry S, Salinas O, Hembling J, Schmidt N, Parsons PJ, Kissinger P [2011]. A longitudinal assessment Huang YH, Chen PY, Grosch JW [2010]. Safety climate: of occupation, respiratory symptoms, and blood lead New developments in the conceptualization and levels among latino day laborers in a non-agricultural industry-focused studies. Editorial Note for Special Issue setting. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, on Safety Climate. Accident Analysis & Prevention. May;54(5):366-74. Epub 2010 Oct 28. Sep;42(5):1421-1422. Epub 2010 Jan 13. Redlich CA [2010]. Skin exposure and asthma: is there ICE Voice [2011]. ICE/BAC Initiatives Take Center Stage a connection?, Proceedings of the American Thoracic at Craft Committee Meetings. 1st Quarter 2011 Report, Society, 7, 134-137. (DOI- 10.1513/pats.201002-025RM). pp 9-10. Shepherd S, Woskie S [2010]. A case study to identify ICE Voice [2011]. New Mast Climber Website Launched barriers and incentives to implementing an engineering by Masonry r2p Partnership, 3rd Quarter 2011 Report, control for concrete grinding dust. ASCE Journal of pp 8-9. Construction Engineering and Management, 136(11): 1238-1248. ICE Voice [2010]. Unionized Masonry Industry to Serve as r2p Partnership Model for Construction Safety. 4th Shishlov KS, Schoenfisch AL, Myers DJ, Lipscomb HJ Quarter 2010 Report, p 8. [2011]. Non-fatal construction industry fall-related injuries treated in US emergency departments, Kaskutas V [2011]. Timing is Right for Foremen’s Fall 1998-2005. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Prevention and Safety Education Training. The Cutting 54(2):128-35. doi: 10.1002/ajim.20880. View abstract Edge, Carpenters’ District Council of Greater St. Louis via PubMed. and Vicinity, August, 2011. Snyder LA, Krauss AD, Chen PY, Finlinson S, Huang YH Kaskutas V [2011]. Local Contractor takes Advantage [2011]. Safety performance: The mediating role of safety of New Fall Protection Technology Loaning Program. control. WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & The Cutting Edge, Carpenters’ District Council of Rehabilitation, 1;40(1):99-111. Greater St. Louis and Vicinity, August, 2011. Sparer EH and Dennerlein JT [under review]. Determin- Kaskutas V [2011]. OSHA and the Courts are Serious ing safety inspection thresholds for employee incentives about Fall Protection. The Cutting Edge, Carpenters’ programs on construction sites. Journal of Safety Science. District Council of Greater St. Louis and Vicinity, July, 2011. Wisnewski AV, Xu L, Robinson E, Liu J, Redlich CA, Herrick CA [2011]. Immune sensitization to methylene Lipscomb HJ, Nolan J, Patterson D, Fullen M, Takacs BC, diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) resulting from skin expo- Pompeii LA [2011]. Buyer beware: Personnel selling nail sure: albumin as a carrier protein connecting skin guns know little about dangerous tools. American exposure to subsequent respiratory responses. Journal Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2011 Apr 6. doi: 10.1002/ of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 6, 6. ajim.20954. [Epub ahead of print]. (DOI- 10.1186/1745-6673-6-6).

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34 CPWR Consortium Partners & Lead Collaborators

DANIEL C. ANTON , PHD CARRIE REDLICH , MD, MPH PARTNERSHIPS Eastern Washington University Yale School of Medicine LABOR ORGANIZATIONS Cheney, WA New Haven, CT BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT , AFL-CIO, EULA BINGHAM , PHD DAVID REMPEL , MD, MPH AND AFFILIATED COUNCILS University of Cincinnati University of California Cincinnati, OH San Francisco INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION UNIONS AND AFFILIATES SERGIO CAPORALI FILHO , PHD JOHN ROSECRANCE , PHD University of Puerto Rico Colorado State University CONTRACTOR ASSOCIATIONS San Juan, PR Fort Collins, CO THE ASSOCIATION OF UNION JOHN M. DEMENT , PHD, CIH SUSAN WOSKIE , PHD CONSTRUCTORS Duke University University of Massachusetts, Lowell Durham, NC MECHANICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION SMALL STUDY GRANTEES JACK DENNERLEIN , PHD NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF Harvard School of Public Health LAURA BOATMAN , BA CONSTRUCTION BOILERMAKER EMPLOYERS Boston, MA State Building and Construction NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS Trades Council of California BRADLEY A. EVANOFF , MD, MPH ASSOCIATION Washington University JULIE BROCKMAN , PHD NORTH AMERICAN CONTRACTORS St. Louis, MO Michigan State University ASSOCIATION NATHAN FETHKE , PHD, CPE DEBRA CHAPLAN , MS SHEET METAL AND AIR CONDITIONING University of Iowa State Building and Construction CONTRACTORS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Iowa City, IA Trades Council of California U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES MARK FULLEN EDD, CSP JACK DENNERLEIN , PHD West Virginia University Harvard University U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Morgantown, WV LEE FREIDMAN , PHD U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR MARK GOLDBERG , PHD University of Illinois at Chicago Hunter College – CUNY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY MATTHEW HALLOWELL , PHD New York City, NY University of Colorado, Boulder NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL ROBERT F. HERRICK , SD SAFETY AND HEALTH , CDC HESTER LIPSCOMB , PHD Harvard School of Public Health Duke University NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL Boston, MA HEALTH SCIENCES , NIEHS DAVID REMPEL , MD HESTER J. LIPSCOMB , PHD University of California STATE AGENCIES Duke University School of Medicine San Francisco Durham, NC STATE DEPARTMENTS OF HEALTH CORA ROELOFS , MS, SCD JEFFREY NELSON , MS, MBA BUSINESS University of Massachusetts Conceptual Arts Inc. Lowell Gainesville, FL ZENITH AMERICAN SOLUTIONS , WA JOHN ROSECRANCE , PHD MICHELE OCHSNER , PHD Colorado State University Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ

35 Oversight and Advisory Boards

BOARD OF DIRECTORS GARY M. MCKINNEY President MARK H. AYERS Day฀&฀Zimmerman฀NPS Chairman of the Board and President Lancaster, PA President, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO TECHNICAL ADVISORY BOARD Washington, DC RALPH FRANKOWSKI , PHD SEAN MCGARVEY Chair Secretary-Treasurer Professor of Biometry Secretary-Treasurer, Building and University of Texas Construction Trades Department, Health Science Center at Houston AFL-CIO School of Public Health Washington, DC EULA BINGHAM , PHD RICHARD RESNICK Department of Environmental Health Vice President/General Counsel University of Cincinnati Medical Sherman Dunn, Cohen, Leifer School & Yellig, PC Washington, DC LETITIA DAVIS , SCD Director, Occupational Health ERICH J. (PETE ) STAFFORD Surveillance Program Executive Director Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training DENNY DOBBIN , MSC, CIH (RET .) Silver Spring, MD Environmental Advisor Chapel Hill, NC NOEL C. BORCK Employer Representative LINDA M. GOLDENHAR , PHD Research Professor of Pediatrics IZ CAKRANE James M. Anderson Center for Vice President of Labor Relations Health Systems Excellence Washington Division of URS Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Corporation Medical Center Princeton, NJ STEVEN HECKER , MSPH PEYTON T. HAIRSTON JR. Director, Continuing Education Senior Vice President and Outreach Diversity and Labor Relations Department of Environmental Tennessee Valley Authority and Occupational Health Sciences Knoxville, TN University of Washington

REVEREND JAMES CLETUS KILEY JAMES M. MELIUS , MD, DRPH Director of Immigration Policy Administrator UNITE HERE New York State Laborers’ Health Washington, DC and Safety Fund

MORRIS M. KLEINER MELVIN L. MYERS , MPA AFL-CIO Professor of Labor Policy Associate Professor Director, Center for Labor Policy University of Kentucky Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Emory University (adjunct) Public Affairs University of Minnesota HARRY SHANNON , PHD Minneapolis, MN Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics McMaster University DESIGN: Ruth Burke

36 CPWR Staff

SENIOR STAFF

PETE STAFFORD PATRICIA QUINN KELLY DYKES Executive Director Director, Energy Employees Depart- Equipment Manager and Instructor [email protected] ment [email protected] and Small Studies Coordinator ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS [email protected] GEORGE NEWMAN Master Instructor JANIE GITTLEMAN , PHD, MRP PAM SUSI , MSPH [email protected] Associate Director Director, Exposure Assessment Safety and Health Research [email protected] SPENCER SCHWEGLER [email protected] Disaster Response Field Coordinator CHRIS TRAHAN , CIH [email protected] JAMES PLATNER , PHD, CIH Director, OSHA and Associate Director Disaster Response Training STEVE SURTEES Science and Technology [email protected] Coordinator, Training [email protected] [email protected] KIZETTA VAUGHN MARY TARBRAKE , MBA Director, Minority Worker ALEXANDRA SZYMCZAK Associate Director Training Program Lead and Asbestos Program Finance and Administration [email protected] Coordinator [email protected] Grants Data Manager MARY WATTERS , MFA [email protected] DIRECTORS Communications Director FIELD SERVICES ROBIN BAKER , MPH [email protected] Director, Research to Practice (r2p) MIKE DORSEY LAURA WELCH , MD [email protected] Field Representative Medical Director [email protected] EILEEN BETIT [email protected] Director, Special Projects RAY TRUJILLO JANICE WHEELER [email protected] Field Representative National Resource Center [email protected] XIUWEN (SUE ) DONG , DRPH Program Director Data Center Director [email protected] ADVISORS [email protected] TRAINERS/COORDINATORS DONALD ELISBURG , JD Senior Environmental Advisor DON ELLENBERGER GENE DANIELS delisbur@infionline.net Director Master Instructor & Lead Hazardous Waste Training Program and Asbestos KNUT RINGEN , DRPH [email protected] Training Program Manager Senior Scientific Advisor [email protected] [email protected] MICHAEL MCCANN , PHD, CIH Director of Safety Research [email protected]

PHOTOS: Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Research: Nate Fethke, Vicki Kaskutas, Natalie Schwatka, Pam Susi, Adam Wisnewski, Louis Kimmel, David Rempel, NIOSH/John Rekus from eLCOSH Images, iStock, Carlos Gallegos, Andy Smoka/Minnesota OSHA, Matt Gillen/NIOSH, Lisa Jaegers; Training: Don Ellenberger, AP Wide World Photos, Jonathan Hammock, Greg Chrisman, Kizetta Vaughn, Jessica Keeley; Service: U.S. Department of Energy (page 29), Travis Prater, Gordon Rowe, Dan Obray, Sherry Gosseen. © 2012, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training. All rights reserved. CPWR is the research and training arm of the Building and Construction Trades Dept., AFL-CIO: CPWR, 8484 Georgia Ave., Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910. (Mark H. Ayers is president of the Building and Construction Trades Dept. and of CPWR; Sean McGarvey is secretary- treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Dept. and of CPWR.) Production of this publication was supported by NIOSH grant OH009762, DOE grant DE-FC01-06EH06004, NIEHS grants ES009764 and ES006185, and DOL contract DOLJ119E32607. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH, DOE, NIEHS, or DOL. Find more information about our research, training and service work. Visit www.cpwr.com. 37 STORIES OF IMPACT

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