A national safety stand-down to reduce construction worker falls

Falls are the leading cause of death and third leading cause of non-fatal injuries in construction. In an effort to combat these numbers, The National Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction began in April 2012. As the campaign gained momentum, a week called the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls was launched to draw attention to the campaign and its goals. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reach of the Stand-Down and lessons learned from its implementation.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration offered a certificate of participation during the Stand-Down. To print the certificate, respondents provided information about their company and stand-down event. CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training conducted analyses on the data collected to assess reach and extent of participation.

In 2014, 4,882 stand-downs were reported. The total number reported in 2015 was 3,759. The number of participants, however, increased from 770,193 in 2014 to 1,041,307 in 2015.

The Stand-Down successfully reached the construction industry and beyond. Respondents were enthusiastic and participated nationally and internationally in variety of activities. They also provided significant feedback that will be influential in future campaign planning.

Numbers of Stand-Downs and participants for both years are estimated to be substantially higher than the data recorded from the certificate database. While we cannot determine impact, the reach of the Stand-Down has surpassed expectations.

The data gathered provide support for the continuation of the Stand-Down. Campaign planners incorporated findings into future Stand-Down planning, materials creation, and promotion. This analysis also provides insight on how organizations can partner to create targeted national campaigns that include activities stakeholders in the construction industry respond to, and can be used to replicate our efforts for other safety and health initiatives in construction and other industries.