The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) launched a nationwide campaign to save workers'' lives and reduce injuries by raising awareness and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the road, bridge, tunnel and airport construction industry.
The campaign is aimed at informing key audiences about the importance of equipping construction workers with PPE and making sure they use it properly, said ISEA President Daniel Shipp.
The audiences for the outreach effort include federal, state and local policymakers and regulators; construction industry leaders, supervisors and workers; organized labor; trade associations; and insurance underwriters.
"All of us involved with worker safety share a common goal of reducing workplace injuries and fatalities," said Shipp. "Through this campaign, we also will remind road construction decision-makers and safety experts about the bottom-line benefits of equipping workers, and making sure that workers don their safety equipment when the situation calls for it."
Leading into the campaign, ISEA formed a Road Construction Safety Equipment Users Council, composed of a "Who''s Who" of leading road construction associations and companies, labor organizations, insurance companies and government agencies.
In addition, ISEA is conducting research with its target audience to measure current PPE awareness and compliance, and to help develop effective communication approaches with those audiences.
As a first outreach step, ISEA in December introduced Protection Update newsletter, which is published every two months for the construction safety community.
Other campaign elements include guides to identifying and finding the right safety equipment for particular hazard exposures, development of a communications "tool kit" to help safety-conscious companies promote safe workplaces, participation in construction industry conferences and trade shows, and outgoing outreach to construction industry trade journals.
"With support from partners in government, industry and labor, we are confident that our campaign will have real impact," said Shipp. "It all comes down to preventing injuries and fatalities, and this effort has the potential to make a difference."
by Virginia Sutcliffe