Safety Authority Details Cost, Lives Lost In Construction, Partnership With Industry To Reduce Worksite Accidents

Jun. 3, 2004
No. 04-57

FAIRBANKS – A veteran construction site safety advisor with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development believes that for many Americans, “Alaska and Alaskans seem bigger than life.”

Safety consultant Carl Francis examines that roughneck image and how it can obscure recognition of the emotional and financial costs of worksite accidents in the July issue of “Contractor,” a quarterly magazine published by the Associated General Contractors of Alaska.

Francis has been associated with construction in Alaska for 37 years with 13 years under his belt as a safety enforcement officer and training consultant in the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) section of the Division of Labor Standards and Safety.

Francis writes that the perception that construction workers have a larger-than-life image, “From some perspectives …is sadly true."

“From the time Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, through the Klondike Gold Rush (when) eggs could cost a hundred dollars a dozen; through World War II …when construction equipment was simply abandoned; to construction of the pipeline …with estimated cost overruns in the billions and workers known to play Monopoly for real money, the stories developed and spread.”

“The stories that seem to fade away,” Francis adds, “are the stories of deaths and disabling injuries and their horrific costs in human, financial and social resources.

“It would be hard to find anyone in the construction industry that has not heard or read about fatalities or serious injuries on the job. Finding people who understand the costs involved can be just as difficult.”

Before joining the labor department Francis spent 24 years as an electrical worker and member of Local 1547 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Drawing on his experiences, Francis adds, “How often have we heard, 'I hated to hear about John getting killed, but I heard his family got a big settlement so they should be fine.’ What almost always goes unsaid in litigated settlements and workmen’s comp rates among other insurance costs (are) the societal costs…”

Francis writes that construction site accidents nationally account for 24.4 percent of all occupational deaths. But, “In Alaska, if we remove logging and North Pacific fishing (that are) unique to Alaska, the percentage of occupational deaths and serious or disabling injuries occurring in construction is nearly double the national average.”

Francis reports that the occupational safety and health section has joined in a partnership with AGC to improve construction industry worker safety statewide.

The program, the “Alaska Construction Health and Safety Excellence (AK-CHASE) Partnership Project,” has been reviewed and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The partnership provides support for contractors to implement programs to reduce injury rates with assistance and oversight from the AKOSH Consultative and Training Division.

Labor Commissioner Greg O’Claray said, “Companies with the foresight to enroll now can expect long term benefits in the form of reduced worker's compensation insurance costs and increased productivity."

Grey Mitchell, director of the Division of Labor Standards and Safety, added, “The partnership can be of tremendous value and it beats enforcement fines or worse, serious accidents and fatalities.”

The partnership provides incentives including reduced penalties and qualified exemptions from enforcement inspections. Francis is the partnership program coordinator. Email requests for addition information should be directed to Carl_Francis@labor.state.ak.us .

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News Media Contacts:
Grey Mitchell, Director, DOLWD Labor Standards & Safety Division, 907.465-6006 or
Joe Holbert, Special Assistant/Communications, 907.465.5673

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