Fall Safe Project: West Virginia

Abstract

Within the construction industry, which has some of the most dangerous occupations in the United States, falls are a leading cause of death and injury. While effective preventative measures exist, they are not being effectively implemented. The Fall Safe Intervention for Construction Workers is an exemplary fall injury prevention program aimed at increasing the use of established fall prevention practices and technology in the construction industry. This program targeted contractors through a certification program that incentivized safety practices by supporting the contractor’s reputation. This program involved policy, education/training for workers and supervisors, a multilevel accountability system, and a hazard-management auditing tool that is currently being replicated and repurposed in other industries. Hazard management puts the ownership for safety in the hands of individuals within the company while simultaneously implementing passive environmental changes that resulted in a significant increase in contractors’ use of safety measures. The purpose of this program was to work with construction companies to create a safety culture by supporting them to take ownership over their relationship to the environment.

Appendices

BRIO Model: Fall Safe

Group Served: Construction Workers.

Goal: To prevent avoidable injury from falls on construction sites.

Background	Resources	Implementation	Outcome
Most deaths in the construction injury are caused by falls which have been shown to result in head trauma and death Non-fatal falls also have serious repercussions: permanent disability, lost time and wages, long treatments, and rehabilitation Most falls are preventable Existing fall prevention programs are not being used and fall prevention techniques are not being implemented Programs are needed to increase the use of existing fall prevention practices and techniques Strategies include training, inspections, and incentives Training component is based on the fall prevention standards of the OSHA	Funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, also the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights Operated under West Virginia University Crucial to the success of the program: intervention needed to involve a combination of strategies, it needed to be intense to provide measurable outcomes, and include well-established accountability systems to ensure adherence to safety practices	Adherence to and evaluation of OHSA standards were tracked with an auditing computer (pilot) Impact of pilot was also measured through opinion and activity questionnaires distributed to company owners, workers, supervisors	Program effective in significantly improving use of prevention practices Incidence reductions are assumed through increased use of safe practices and observations of prevented injury at individual construction sites Program was deemed practical and applicable and was well received by participating companies West Virginia has extended the intervention to more construction contractors and further development of computer-based audit equipment

Life Space Model: Fall Safe

Sociocultural : Civilization/community	Interpersonal: Primary and secondary relationships	Physical environments: Where we live	Internal states: Biochemical/genetic and means of coping
Raised awareness of fall risk factors and preventative practices among workers, companies, and governing bodies Program impacts the way in which falls are viewed by the entire construction industry Program components decreased company and societal costs associated with fall-related injury	Multilevel program involvement has the potential to create positive relations and networks The way in which all tiers of the construction industry relate to one another will incorporate program knowledge	The identification of multi-factorial antecedents to falls contribute to safety Empirical assessment of risk for falling protects safety Use of auditing computer organizes the environment and facilitates safety	Program can increase the quality of life, security and self-efficacy among workers, companies, contractors, governing bodies Reception of incentives in combination with work involved reinforces safe behavior and increases self-confidence and ability