LHSFNA Management
Co-Chairman
Noel C. Borck

“It goes without saying that any workplace death is an immense, personal tragedy for the victim’s family,” says LHSFNA Management Co-Chairman Noel C. Borck. “However, because they usually occur in isolation and are reported in the media as random events, the grief of family, friends and co-workers seldom adds momentum to efforts to prevent similar tragedies going forward. We’re hopeful that CPWR’s new Fatalities Map will help change this situation.”

In honor of Workers’ Memorial Day 2012, CPWR – the Center for Construction Research and Training launched the new online resource on April 26. It is designed to memorialize labor’s victims while revealing the patterns behind their deaths.

The map, which is currently featured on the Stop Construction Falls website, aims to collect and post the circumstances of every construction fatality whatever its cause. Each will present as a pinpoint on a national map. A click on a pin will pull up the story of the individual’s death and locate the fatality in the state and locality in which it occurred.

As the map fills in and new mechanisms are created to connect the tragic dots, victims will be linked and commemorated while, equally important, more of the patterns of their deaths – and of construction fatalities in general – will be revealed.

“Knowing when and why a hazard kills a construction worker is vital,” says Borck, “but knowing aggregate and geographical patterns and connecting them to the localities and those that should be responsible for ensuring workplace safety may be even more important in the long run. It is with tools like this that safety professionals can focus efforts to advance workplace safety across the nation as well as in targeted jurisdictions.”

To help with the project or contribute information to the construction fatalities database, contact fatalitymap@cpwr.com.

[Steve Clark]