DESPITE EFFORTS TO CREATE SAFER and healthier workplaces, construction workers in the U.S. still experience a noticeably high rate of fatal and nonfatal injuries and illnesses. The construction industry has experienced a fatality rate of 10.2 per 100,000 full-time employees, approximately three times higher than all other industries' average (CPWR, 2018). These fatalities are, to a large extent, attributed to acute safety incidents or exposure to hazardous substances and materials on construction jobsites. However, approximately 95,000 workers died in 2017 from chronic occupational diseases (AFL-CIO, 2019), and up to 50% of occupational cancer deaths are attributed to exposures in the construction industry (Hutchings & Rushton, 2012). National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Construction Sector Council (2018) has identified silica, welding fumes, noise and lead as research priorities in the construction industry.
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