Danger zone
A dirty little secret of Florida's construction boom: Record numbers of workers died. The state appears to be on firmer footing lately.
By Tom Zucco
Published February 19, 2007
FROM AN OSHA NEWS RELEASE DATED FEB. 8, 2007: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Bradenton-based Commercial Plastering and has proposed penalties of $65,600 after a worker fell 100 feet from a scaffolding system at a St. Petersburg construction site last September. OSHA found that guardrails had not been installed on the scaffolding and that planks used on the scaffolding system were not installed according to OSHA regulations. "This incident could have been prevented if OSHA safety regulations and equipment manufacturer's instructions had been followed," said Les Grove, OSHA's Tampa area director. "The company unnecessarily put employees' lives at risk."
The victim's name and the grisly circumstances grab headlines for a day or two, then disappear like so much exhaust from a backhoe.
But at construction sites and along highways across Florida, the numbers add up.
The state reached a record number of workplace fatalities in 2004 - 422. More than one a day. Most of them related to the state's multibillion-dollar construction industry.
The number in 2005 was 404, a decrease of 4 percent. Still, it was the second-highest fatality count for Florida since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the numbers in 1992.
Although the numbers for 2006 aren't in, some analysts believe the year might have been less dangerous for workers and 2007 might be even safer.
Those who died in 2005 were nearly all men, mostly white or Hispanic, and the most frequent types of fatal accidents were highway crashes, falls, and being struck by vehicles or equipment.
While the numbers may be trending down, Florida remains a dangerous place to work essentially because it has two factors working against it:
Lots of construction, and lots of workers.
"It's dangerous out there," said Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, an advocacy group of more than 50 bay area contractors and developers, trade associations and building suppliers.
Narkiewicz said builders are doing better probably because of an increased awareness and understanding of job-site safety. And it's not just the people in the construction office trailers who realize that.
Business owners "can preach all they want, but until it finally dawns on the workers, then you start to see results," he said.
Narkiewicz said Florida has more opportunities for safer job sites than other states because Florida builds a lot of one-story homes, the ground is relatively flat, which helps to better secure ladders and scaffolding, and the rush to build has slowed.
"I would think for 2006, the fatality number would be even less," Narkiewicz said. "During the peak of the building boom, there were a lot more people in the workplace, so the industry slowing down might have an impact. There's not as much rush now to get the job done. People can take more time and there's more emphasis on getting the job done right the first time."
The industry, while challenged to find skilled labor for construction jobs, got a chance to properly train new people.
"It became kind of a blessing in disguise," he said.
Trade groups like the Tampa Bay Builders Association are also reaching out to Spanish-speaking workers with workshops, classes and even a new handheld electronic booklet that allows them to better navigate a job site.
TBBA members also started the Safety Alliance of Tampa Bay, a group of about 30 area builders that has joined with the University of South Florida's Safety Consultation Program to offer safety courses. Businesses that complete the courses can qualify for discounts on workers' compensation insurance premiums.
"It has gotten better," said Stan Lenas, assistant director of the Tampa Bay area Electrical Journeyman Apprentice Training Committee and a 30-year member of the electrical workers union. "There's more training and seminars available and more emphasis on safety. And every time there's a death or injury, it's looked at pretty close."
48 safety 'police' for the entire state
The people who usually do the looking are from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure that the standards set by the act are being upheld.
"What's unique about Florida is the hurricanes and all the cleanup and recovery work," said Ben Ross, assistant region administrator for enforcement programs at OSHA. "You have people coming into the state claiming to be roofers, masonry contractors, electricians. But the onus falls on the contractor. He or she has the responsibility to protect his or her workers."
OSHA has the responsibility of keeping an eye on the contractors. But with just 48 compliance officers to cover the entire state, it's a daunting job.
"It is a challenge," Ross said, "but we're up for it."
Despite the threat of fines and lost business because of workplace injuries and deaths, Ross knows that corners are cut: workers without hard hats, scaffolding improperly erected, no safety lines ... the list is almost endless.
"When we see things like that," Ross said, "we still stop immediately and those employees will be removed.
"Look, it pays in a lot of ways to have productive employees and complete a job in a timely manner. It also pays indirectly to taxpayers because contractors don't have other additional costs to pass on."
How one roofing company handles it
Every morning before they head out to their jobs across the bay area, the 100 or so workers at Millard Roofing in Brandon spend a couple of minutes going over general safety rules. It's like the shift change at a police headquarters.
"It's all about reinforcing the same thing over and over again," said company vice president Greg Millard, "because sometimes guys get complacent or lazy."
Millard Roofing has had two injuries in 10 years, neither of them life-threatening.
"It costs more up front to do the safety meetings, and the equipment is expensive," Millard said. "But in the long run, injuries cut into the time it takes to do the work and brings negative attention to the builder. If you keep doing that, the builder will find somebody else next time.
"And then there's all the heartache that goes into the person who's hurt."
The loss can be permanent.
"If someone lost a hand or was seriously hurt and couldn't work, they'd have to find a new occupation," Narkiewicz said. "Their means of support would be taken away.
"And builders and business owners have to stop and think, I don't want to have to be the one to call someone's spouse, or mother or father, and tell them someone was killed on the job site."
Tom Zucco can be reached at zucco@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8247.
Fast Facts
Dangerous situations
Most frequent types of fatal workplace events in Florida in 2005:
1. Transportation incidents (186)*
2. Falls (72)
3. Exposure to harmful substances (50)
4. Assaults and violent acts (47)
5. Contact with objects and equipment (39)
6. Fires and explosions (8)
* Includes highway, nonhighway, air, water and rail fatalities.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor