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NAHB Safety Training Program Receives OSHA Grant
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NAHB conducted safety training sessions in the top 20 home building markets nationwide in 2008, including this one hosted by Beazer Homes in Nashville, Tenn. | NAHB and the NAHB Research Center have received a 2008 Susan Harwood Training Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). NAHB will use the $265,007 grant to train English- and Spanish-speaking employees in the residential construction industry how to recognize hazards and prevent falls from roofs, scaffolds and ladders.
“More than 3,500 residential construction employees have received safety and fall prevention training since 2006 as a result of OSHA-funded training seminars,” said Buck Roberts, chair of the NAHB Construction Safety & Health Committee and a builder from Anderson, S.C. “Thanks to this grant, NAHB will again provide critical fall prevention training to the top home building markets throughout the United States in 2009.”
According to the NAHB study “Residential Construction Industry Fatalities 2003-2006,” falls are the most common cause of accidental deaths in home building, accounting for 45% of fatalities.
“We decided to focus this year’s safety training program on roofs, ladders and scaffolding after the study showed that these were the areas from which fatally injured workers most often fell,” said Michael Luzier, president and CEO of the NAHB Research Center, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NAHB. “These seminars are specifically designed for construction crew members and anyone who is on residential construction sites on a regular basis.”
This year, Harwood grants totaling $6.7 million were awarded to 36 recipients. To see the complete list, click here.
The Harwood grants support workplace safety and health training programs that educate employees in industries with high hazard and fatality rates, employees with limited English proficiency, hard-to-reach employees and small business employers. The grants are for training programs that address safety and health topic areas such as construction and general industry hazards.
The Home Builders Association of South Carolina received a 2008 Harwood grant of $173,163 to develop and conduct English- and Spanish-language fall-prevention training sessions to approximately 600 of their members.
OSHA has supported NAHB and the NAHB Research Center with more than $1.5 million in grants to provide safety training and materials to the residential construction industry since 2000.
For more information on NAHB construction safety issues and training programs, e-mail Rob Matuga at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8507.
 Boost Job Site Safety With Fall Protection Training Products
In an effort to increase job site safety and reduce the chance of job related accidents, NAHB has produced the “Fall Protection Video, English-Spanish” and “NAHB-OSHA Fall Protection Handbook, English-Spanish.”
Both are available through BuilderBooks.com.
The 30-minute “Fall Protection Video, English-Spanish” can be used by builders to train workers to use safe work practices that eliminate fall hazards and comply with OSHA fall-protection standards.
The “NAHB-OSHA Fall Protection Handbook, English-Spanish” provides guidelines for creating a written fall-protection plan and identifying safe work practices that can prevent costly accidents and injuries. Written with clear text, photographs and illustrations, the book serves as a user-friendly resource for promoting safety on any job site.
To purchase the handbook and video online, click here, or call 800-223-2665.
 Create a Safer Job Site
Four common hazards cause 90% of the injuries and fatalities on residential construction job sites.
The “Recognizing the Big-Four Safety Hazards for the Home Building Industry” course from The NAHB University of Housing shows how to comply with OSHA regulations and to recognize and minimize those hazards most likely to cause accidents.
The course teaches builders to protect their workers from harm and themselves from liability. This course is also available in Spanish.
To find out where upcoming courses are being held, click here, or call 800-368-5242 x8154 for more information.
Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach Hispanic Adults English
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created exclusively for the construction industry by the Home Builders Institute to improve communication, quality and safety on the job site.
The product, now available at www.seddesaberconstruction.com, uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow workers to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in just four months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts assembled through HBI — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that the information is relevant to today’s home building workforce. To address worker safety issues related to the language barrier, HBI created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.
NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart employee progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today and empower your workers to learn English at www.seddesaberconstruction.com.
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