IPAF behind OSHA’s Safety Stand-Down to prevent falls

Jordan Barab, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, reiterated to the audience at last month’s IPAF Summit that “safety is not a luxury; it’s a necessity that every worker deserves.”

With falls from height still the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the United States and many other countries, Barab commended the powered access industry for its commitment to providing safe equipment for working at height. IPAF’s efforts for providing training for workers in multiple languages, including Spanish and Chinese, were also applauded. 

Barab reveled in his presentation that preliminary data for 2013 showed 574 fatal falls across all industries in the United States, with 284 in construction and 88 in residential. He noted that OSHA will be turning its attention to aerial lift use in residential construction.

OSHA’s major effort to prevent falls in construction is made through its National Safety Stand-Down, which will take place May 4-15, 2015. The organization will bring education and awareness education and awareness that will involve some three million workers across the United States. IPAF CEO Tim Whiteman confirmed that IPAF would give OSHA’s Safety Stand-Down its full support, calling on resources from its accident reporting project and other safety campaigns.