 Go in. Drive your old. Performing well. OSHA law requires construction employers to provide a workplace that is free from recognized hazards. Yet every day construction workers face dangers that threaten their health and their lives. If your employer allows OSHA violations to occur, you should bring them to the immediate attention of your craft steward, employer or OSHA. Most importantly, you must be alert. It's your life that's at risk. It was a pretty bad accident. They're taking the worker to county general, but I can tell you right now, this is one construction worker who won't make it to the emergency room. On average, this same kind of thing happens five times a day on construction sites somewhere in America. The sad thing is, it didn't have to happen. What's even sadder is, is that every day there are a whole lot of near misses that could have ended up like this one. And they didn't have to happen either. Today is a perfect example. Clarence Givens is looking forward to watching his only daughter graduate from high school. Be careful. I see you. Don't miss your bus. Gimble is a single parent whose pride and joy are her two kids. Jorge Martinez is excited about his new job. For several weeks he's been getting his feet wet as a construction worker. And Frank Mitchison is looking forward to the week after next when he takes his family to the beach. Be good. See you tonight. Today, at different job sites, all four of these folks came face to face with death. Three of them were lucky this time. One wasn't. Jorge Martinez and his foreman are connecting a segment of sewer line on a road construction project. They're working inside a trench box that will protect them if the walls cave in. But Jorge's foreman is violating OSHA regulations by having the ladder outside the box. That means they're both taking a risk every time they have to get in and out of the trench. The foreman is getting frustrated. It's taking too long to make the connection. So he tells Jorge to go to the other side just for a few minutes. Just long enough to clear away some dirt and line up the pipe. He's risking Jorge's life. OSHA has some basic safety rules about excavations. Any trench deeper than five feet has to be short or sloped. Also, the spoil pile has to be at least two feet back from the edge. There has to be an egress ladder inside the short up area. And it has to extend to three feet above the top. The trench box has to be level with the top of the trench and there can't be more than two feet of space from the bottom of the box to the bottom of the hole. There may be other specific rules that apply in other situations. But in all situations, workers must never go into an unprotected trench. Even for a few seconds. Jorge's employer has given him an order to do something that is unsafe. Jorge has a legal right to refuse. This is one of the most difficult situations a new worker may face. But your union training has taught you the risk of entering an unprotected trench. Is it worth risking your life? But Jorge has a responsibility here too. A responsibility to himself and to the other workers on this job site. Jorge's responsibility is to take a good hard look at the situation to recognize that it's not safe and to say that he's not going to any part of that trench that isn't safe. Today, because Jorge didn't do that, his life is on the line. Clarence Givens is a signalman. Because drivers of heavy equipment can't see where they're backing, it's Clarence's job to make sure that the vehicle doesn't hit anyone or anything. But there are two problems here. The contractor sent a truck with a broken backup alarm and Clarence's foreman is about to distract him. Clarence, when you get done here, I got another truck coming in on the other side of the job. I want you to vacuum in and golf him. Contractors have a responsibility to make certain that everything on a job site meets common sense OSHA safety standards. Signalmen and drivers have a standardized set of signals for communication. The signalman must be positioned to the side and far enough back to see the truck and anything that could cross its path. And the driver must keep visual contact with the signalman. But let's not forget about Clarence because he has a responsibility in this situation too. Construction is dangerous work. His responsibility is to keep his eyes and ears open at all times, especially when he's helping a truck back up. And because Clarence didn't do that, today just might be his last. It's morning break time for Joanne Kimball. On a construction site when it's a hot summer day, that usually means finding the closest source of cold water. But you don't take a break from safety during breaks from work. Joanne found a water jug sitting right on the crane. As she takes that cool refreshing drink, Joanne leans against the crane to relax. But she fails to see that it's getting dangerously close to an overhead power line. If the crane gets too close to the power line, Joanne becomes a statistic. Electrocution is one of the primary causes of death on construction jobs. And most electrocutions are caused by some kind of contact with high voltage power lines. Now there are regulations to protect people like Joanne and me, but regulations only work if people pay attention to them. Cranes aren't the only things that can contact high voltage power lines. You also have to be careful using ladders, scaffolds, and other metal objects around energized power sources. Joanne's employer has not implemented an effective safety program to identify potential hazards like this one. This is a blueprint for disaster. Frank Mitchison is an iron worker. Today he's working six stories up. His job is to bolt down crossbars. Frank is not as protected as he should be. He should be wearing a body harness. But at least he's wearing a safety belt with a lanyard. Iron workers call it a monkey tail. And for the most part, Frank is making use of it. Frank has been an iron worker for a lot of years. Even though working at these heights has become second nature, he's generally pretty careful. But Frank's in a hurry, and this connection looks easy. So Frank is not going to hook up. In the United States, falls are the leading killer of workers. You should always use a fall protection system that suits the job you're doing. And if equipment is involved, you have to know how to use it and maintain it. Your employer must ensure that you are trained. Ask and take advantage of the training. Your union may also offer it. The real shame here is that Frank ties off probably 95% of the times when he should. So he knows better. You just can't cut corners when it comes to safety. And Frank's about to find that out the hard way. The four people in this story are just like you and me. They want a comfortable life for themselves and their families. So they go to work to earn the money to help them reach for the American dream. Three of them have come away from today's experience kind of shaken up. But they're wiser for it. The fourth will never get another chance. Jorge Martinez was lucky. When he saw what was happening, he was able to pull himself out before the dirt could trap him. He came out of it alive and well, but he's well aware of how close he came to dying today. Clarence Givens was just a whisper away from being hit by the dump truck and knocked under its wheels. A few more inches the other way, and Clarence would have been another construction fatality. It turned out to be Joanne's lucky day too. They say that timing is everything. In Joanne's case, timing was the only difference between life and death. Frank Mitchison never had a chance. When he lost his balance, his lanyard wasn't attached, and he fell six storey. When Frank gets to the hospital, he'll be DOA, dead on arrival. The sad thing is, it didn't have to happen. Construction accidents can be prevented. We have to remember that we're the ones on the job. We're the ones who see the dangers. We're the ones who can report them. We're the ones who can avoid them. Even though accidents cost the construction industry billions of dollars, accidents cost us our lives. Who has the most at stake? Each year, more than 1,000 workers are killed in construction accidents. More than a quarter of a million suffer injuries that result in lost workdays. 90% of the deaths occur in four categories, caught between struck by electrocution and falls. We've highlighted examples of these four. And as you have seen, there is a thin line between a near miss and a fatality. Construction work is dangerous. The government will enforce safety and health laws, but it cannot be on every construction site. Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace. But realistically, that does not always happen. Only you can decide. Take a chance or make the choice to get proper training, to use the right personal protective equipment, to stay alert, to take the time to do a job correctly, to not cut corners, and to refuse to work in any unsafe situation. It's up to you. Take a chance or make the choice.