The Job-Site Safety Institute (JSI), a Raleigh-based nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to improving safety and protecting lives, says it has awarded a grant to the National Housing Endowment/National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Videos titled “Toolbox Talk” will be created to demonstrate how to recognize and prevent residential construction safety hazards to construction workers across the U.S.
This series of three- to five-minute training videos will cover critical safety-related issues in the industry, and all videos will be available in both English and Spanish. Each safety video will explain and demonstrate how to recognize, avoid, and prevent construction safety hazards through the use of abatement techniques, including best industry practices and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulatory requirements. The availability of the Toolbox Talk videos will be promoted nationally within the residential construction industry and disseminated through online channels, including JSI’s YouTube channel and the NAHB website. The total of 18 bilingual Toolbox Talk videos will be created over a two-year period, with half expected to be completed by end of this year.
The first video in the series focuses on ladder safety (see above). Every day, approximately 2,000 people are injured while using ladders, and among construction workers, an estimated 81 percent of fall injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms involve a ladder.
This video specifically addresses choosing the right ladder for the job and properly setting up the ladder, and ultimately the video is intended to help prevent ladder injuries. Future topics in the Toolbox Talk video series will include nail gun safety, personal protective equipment, heat stress, fire safety, scaffolding, fall protection, and more.
“Through the Toolbox Talk videos, we hope to help workers in the industry better understand how to recognize and prevent risks, and conduct their jobs safely,” said JSI executive director Bill Schaffner. “The videos will focus on serious safety and health hazards in the industry and ultimately foster a protective work environment.”
“We are excited to be selected as one of JSI’s first grant recipients,” said Robert Matuga, assistant vice-president, labor, safety and health at NAHB. “The Toolbox Talk videos will promote worker safety by providing an accessible and ongoing educational platform that uses emerging technology to reduce the number of job-site injuries and fatalities.”