FACTS

1. Factors that can lead to impalement incidents include:

• Unprotected rebar dowels
• Reliance on mushroom caps, which don’t protect workers from impalement.
• Improper wooden trough installment
• Inadequate precautions when working over dowel covers.
• Inattention to other impalement hazards besides rebar

2. Hazards

Unloading from vehicle & stacking of reinforcement bars.

• Rash vehicular movement – Injury to workmen.
• Reversing of the vehicle – Run over on workmen.
• Unloading of sharp edged Rebars – Cut Injury.
• Improper stacking – Trip, Fall & Injury

STATS

• According to OSHA statistics, 61% of construction accidents can be attributed to impalement from rebar.
• In 2020, the construction industry tragically realized 1,008 on-the-job fatalities, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
• OSHA reported incidents involving rebar impalement result in death just over 26% of the time. 61 incidents, of which 16 were fatal. There is an average of 1.7 rebar impalement injuries reported to OSHA every year.
• According to OSHA 1 in 5 worker deaths in the United States in 2019 were construction related. The leading cause of death among construction workers were falls, which accounted for about 33% of their deaths. These deaths are not explicitly rebar impalement related.
• 2021 — These steel bars can cut, scratch, pierce, and impale workers, which resulted in 65 % of serious internal injuries and death.