title: Assessing Barriers to the Use of Fall Protection in Small Residential Construction Companies in New Jersey.
abstract: Three focus groups were conducted with residential construction workers from local New Jersey labor organizations to characterize barriers to fall protection use among residential construction contractors who work for companies with fewer than ten employees. Thirty-six residential construction workers volunteered to participate, the average age was thirty-nine years, and twenty-four (67%) were of Hispanic origin. Twelve (33%) of the participants reported having fallen from greater than 6 ft at work and twenty (56%) of the participants had known someone who has fallen from greater than 6 ft. Sixteen (44%) had not been provided with fall protection equipment by their employer and eighteen (50%) reported their current employer had not provided workplace safety training. Factors that created barriers to use of fall protection equipment such as equipment availability, employee/employer relationships, cultural differences, and company size were identified. Results from this study confirm that falls remain a concern among residential construction workers in small companies.
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Department of Health, Occupational Health Surveillance Program, NJ, USA marija.borjan@doh.state.nj.us.
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borjan
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Drexel University, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Toral
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Department of Health, Occupational Health Surveillance Program, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lefkowitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: New Jersey Department of Health, Occupational Health Surveillance Program, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lumia
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D060389:Construction Industry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009515:New Jersey; D016272:Occupational Health; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000067393:Personal Protective Equipment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044469:Racial Groups; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D058012:Small Business / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017132:Workplace
keywords: falls; occupational health surveillance; personal protective equipment; residential construction