What Does
OSHA Focus Four Mean?
Focus Four is an outreach initiative launched by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1994 to target the deadliest safety hazards in the construction industry. These hazards are:
Together, these four hazard categories are responsible for more than half of all construction site fatalities.Â
The OSHA Focus Four is also known as the OSHA Fatal Four and the Construction Fatal Four.
Safeopedia Explains OSHA Focus Four
Falls from height account for more than 30% of deaths in the construction industry. According to the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR), the percentage of fatal injuries resulting from hazards in the Focus Four categories between 2011 to 2022 were:
- 35.2% from falls to lower levels
- 16.8% from struck-by incidents
- 7.5% from electrocution
- 5.7% from caught-in-between incidents
OSHA’s Focus Four program is primarily focused on raising awareness and educating employers, safety professionals, and workers about the deadly hazards on construction sites. The campaign involves talks, certification courses, and training for workers who might be exposed to Focus Four hazards.
Focus Four Hazards: Falls
There are two categories of fall hazard:
- Falls on the same level
- Falls from heights
Falls from heights account for the greatest number of fatalities in construction. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 865 work-related fatalities due to falls in 2022, 700 of which were due to falls to a lower level.
Common Causes of Falls
The top causes of falls in the construction industry are:
Prevention Strategies
In 2012, OSHA launched its Fall Prevention Campaign in partnership with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The campaign aims to raise awareness about fall hazards, fall prevention, and fall protection.
The campaign holds that falls can be prevented with three simple steps:
- Plan: Employers must plan ahead by identifying all fall hazards the workers will encounter and determining which fall protection measures will be required to keep them safe
- Provide: All employees working at a height of six feet or more above a lower level must be given adequate fall protection equipment to do the job safely
- Train: Employees must be trained on how to recognize fall hazards, how to use a personal fall arrest system (PFAS), and how to work safely near unguarded edges
Focus Four Hazards: Electrocution
By definition, electrocution is fatal. It refers to the loss of life from exposure to an excessive amount of electrical energy. Electricians are at risk, but so are construction workers who operate near power lines, use electrical equipment, or work in proximity to high voltage equipment.
Common Causes of Electrocution
The most common causes of electrocution in the construction industry are:
- Contact with overhead power lines
- Contact with the energized parts of electrical equipment
- Faulty wiring
- Overloaded circuits
- Inadequate grounding of equipment
- Wet and damp conditions near electrical equipment
- Not using gloves, hard hats, and other PPE rated for electrical hazards
Prevention Strategies
To minimize electrocution hazards on the construction site:
Focus Four Hazards: Caught-In and Caught-in-Between Incidents
These incidents occur when workers get caught in between two objects, or between the components of a machine. Fatal caught-in-between incidents can include cave-ins, collapsing structure, or being pinned between machinery and a wall.
Common Causes of Caught-In and Caught-in-Between Incidents
The most common causes of caught-in-between incidents are:
- Inadequate training for equipment operators
- Improper or missing machine guards to prevent direct exposure to a machine’s moving parts
- Failure to follow LOTO procedures
- Insufficient space for movement
- Equipment malfunction
- Cave-ins in excavated sites
- Structural failures, such as a scaffold collapse
- Heavy building materials falling while being transported
Prevention Strategies
To prevent fatalities and injuries due to caught-in-between incidents:
- Train employees on the proper use of heavy equipment
- Establish LOTO procedures and make sure the employees are following them
- Install machine guards on equipment with moving parts
- Use trench shield systems, shoring, and other measures to prevent cave-ins
- Post warning signs in areas where such incidents are more likely to happen
- Ensure that there is sufficient supervision where heavy equipment and materials are being used
Focus Four Hazards: Struck-By
Struck-by incidents happen when an object impacts or makes forcible contact with a person, injuring them. It can involve flying, falling, swinging, or rolling objects. A large percentage of fatal and non-fatal struck-by injuries are transportation injuries.
Common Causes of Struck-by Incidents
Struck-by incidents on construction sites can be caused by:
- Reversing vehicles
- Improperly stacked materials collapsing
- Flying objects during cutting and grinding processes
- Improperly rigged materials falling from cranes or hoists
- Tools or materials dropped from a higher level
- Nails propelled from nail guns
- Loose or shifting materials
Prevention Strategies
To prevent struck-by incidents on the construction site:
- Provide workers with hard hats that have sufficient impact resistance
- Ensure that all vehicles are equipped with warning systems for rearview
- Use wheel chocks on any stationary vehicle parked on an incline
- Post warning signs near potential struck-by hazards
- Implement a dropped object plan
- Discourage workers from standing near or behind vehicles and heavy equipment
Implementing Focus Four Hazard Prevention
Focus Four hazards continue to be a problem in the construction industry. However, there are effective control measures that can mitigate the risks associated with them.
Employers should conduct a thorough hazard assessment before the job begins, then draft a safety plan targeting all identified hazards.
Supervisors must enforce safety protocols, including the use of PPE and personal fall arrest systems. Workers should also be encouraged to report unsafe conditions and near miss incidents without fear of repercussions. Management should then take corrective action based on those reports.
OSHA also has several resources that can be used to raise awareness and educate workers about the Fatal Four hazards and what they can do to stay safe on the job. OSHA’s Construction Focus Four Training, for example, has lesson plans for each of the Focus Four hazards.
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