Severe injuries among construction workers: Insights from OSHA?s new severe injury reporting program

Construction workers sustain a large number of work-related injuries. These injuries sometimes result in irre-versible damage, life-long disability, and even the loss of life. Therefore, strategic initiatives to reduce work -related injuries are necessary. To help achieve this goal, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently introduced a new severe injury reporting program. The program requires that employers notify OSHA of any severe or serious injuries that result in amputation, in-patient hospitalization, or loss of an eye within 24 h. The current investigation statistically examined more than 11,000 physical injuries reported as part of this program to identify patterns and discover opportunities to enhance workplace safety. The key findings include: specialIntscript the most commonly reported severe injury event types are falls to lower level and struck-by object or equipment incidents; specialIntscript the most commonly reported injury sources are ladders and structural elements such as joists, roofs, and skylights; specialIntscript the most commonly reported injured body parts are the upper extremities and the lower extremities; specialIntscript the most commonly reported nature of injuries are traumatic injuries to bones, nerves, and spinal cord (e.g., fractures) and open wounds; specialIntscript the most reportedly vulnerable construction sectors for severe injuries are commercial and institutional building construction and electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors. The findings also offer insights into the relationship between injury attributes. For example, the event type "falls to lower level" was particularly likely when workers used the injury source "ladders per the data." The findings can be leveraged to enhance work-related safety among construction workers.