It’s estimated that workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities cost the country more than $170 billion per year. “These costs affect every person in the United States — every employee, every employer and every family member,” said OSHA Administrator Edwin G. Foulke.

The American Society of Safety Engineers, a NAOSH Week partner, says that workplace injuries cost employers the equivalent of one-quarter of all their pretax profits. On the flipside, companies that implement effective safety and health programs reduce their injury and illness rates an average of 20 percent.

Workplace accidents lower wages for workers, decrease profits for companies and increase prices for consumers. On average, a workplace accident costs an employee and their family $8,000, often forcing them to dip into savings or to default on payments. It is the number one reason people default on their home.

“This is a call to action,” said ASSE President Michael W. Thompson, CSP. “Consider the possibilities NAOSH Week brings for creating a new reality — an incident- and injury-free workplace, lower healthcare and workers’ compensation costs, positive reputation and improved business opportunities — all of which are vital in today’s global marketplace.”

As part of NAOSH Week, OSHA and other associations are inviting construction companies across Texas and other places to stand-down projects for an hour and a half at the same time on the same day to provide education on workplace safety and health.

Many will focus on training workers to understand safety and unsafe conditions and behaviors, to eliminate hazards, incidents and sometimes near misses, as well as reviewing key information on personal protection equipment (PPE). Advance training will be provided to employers and supervisors before the stand-down to ensure maximum success.

“By standing down it will make a statement that safety is important,” said Dallas-based ASSE member Patricia Kagerer, CSP, ARM, CRIS, VP for Risk Management with CF Jordan, a construction company that has been recognized as having the top safety program in the country.

Kagerer has been instrumental in the Dallas-Fort Worth “Construction Industry Stand Down” for the past four years, and will be at it again this month. She does it because of the importance of making sure that workers who go to work in the morning get home safely every night.

The stand down will be held on May 7, which is also NAOSH Professional Day. A day to recognize the ongoing efforts of occupational safety, health and environmental professionals to protect people, property and the environment.

“They are the ones that make sure you go to and come home from work safely and without injury every day,” said ASSE 2005-06 President Jack H. Dobson Jr., CSP. NAOSH Professional Day also aims to further raise awareness and pride in the profession, where one is qualified by education, training and experience to identify hazards and develop appropriate controls for these hazards all aimed at preventing occupational injury, illness and property damage.

Currently there are about 100,000 occupational safety, health and environmental practitioners in the U.S. today in what has become one of the most challenging and rewarding career fields.

“We take time this May 7th to say thanks to those invisible heroes, who every day work to make your workplace safer and healthier,” ASSE President Michael W. Thompson, CSP, said. “It doesn’t happen often, but when a call is made to a family member that their loved one has been injured or killed on the job, several lives change forever. Let’s continue to work with occupational safety and health professionals to make sure you and your family never receives that call.”

“If you know one, thank your occupational safety and health professional on this day,” Thompson said. “It will mean more than you know.”

Thanks and good luck.