Construction workers and employers build our roads, houses, and workplaces and repair and maintain our nation's physical infrastructure. Construction includes building new structures, renovations involving additions, alterations, or maintenance, and repair of buildings or engineering projects such as highways or utility systems. The NIOSH Construction Program provides national and world leadership to prevent work-related illness, injury, disability, and death by systematically gathering information, conducting targeted scientific research, and translating the knowledge gained into products, solutions and services tailored to meet construction needs. In collaboration with industry and labor partners and stakeholders, including OSHA, we are dedicated to improving safety and health conditions for all construction workers.
In 2010, there were 774 fatal on-the-job injuries to workers in the construction industry – more than in any other industry sector and representative of 17% of all work-related deaths in the U.S. that year.1 Construction is a large, dynamic, and complex industry sector, putting nearly $800 billion of construction in place in 2011.2 Construction worksites are organizationally complex multi-employer sites and present numerous health and safety challenges.