Each year in the U.S. approximately 1,000 construction workers are fatally injured on the job as a result of a fall, electrocution, or being struck-by or caught-between moving objects. Another 10,000 workers develop a debilitating illness such as hearing loss, respiratory distress, a skin disorder, organ failure, or cancer. Based on those statistics, construction workers annually are ten times more likely to suffer a significant health condition than a workplace death.

Many of the reported illnesses are due to long term repeated exposure to substances like lead, asbestos, silica, solvents, and noise. Even intermittent exposures every day to hazardous substances over a working lifetime adds up and negatively affects the body. The decision early-on in a construction career to observe safe work practices can make a big difference in the health of the worker later in life.