A fall from a second-story roof in Sevierville. A deadly trench collapse in Knoxville. Fatal heatstroke in Clarksville.
These are just a few of the dozens of work-related deaths investigated by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration during 2023. So far in 2024, TOSHA has investigated two workplace-related deaths.
“We’re tired of carrying caskets,” Jacen Davidson of Nashville-based Ironworkers Local 492 said at a recent news conference seeking tighter safety measures at construction sites. “That stops now.”
Tennessee is among the most dangerous states for construction workers due to workplace deaths and injuries, according to a recent analysis of federal workplace citations and injury reports.
As the summer heat increases, so do the health threats to construction workers who are busy reshaping Nashville’s skyline and meeting the increasing demands of population growth across the state.
Tennessee’s private construction industry had the highest number of deaths nationwide in 2021, the most recent year for which U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data is available. There were 43 construction-related deaths, up from 21 the previous year. By comparison, there were a total of 173 workplace deaths in Tennessee across all industries in 2021.
In Nashville, recent work-related deaths at Metro-owned construction sites have led to the introduction of legislation aimed at adding an additional layer of oversight to city-controlled projects. Support for the proposed law came from a coalition of construction unions and local politicians.
“It’s about people being able to go to work and come back safely,” said Charley Rodriguez, local organizer for the Allied Painters and Trades Union. “Some workers feel unsafe, day after day. They feel like no one is listening to them.”
In the private sector, builders active in Nashville’s booming construction industry said proper safety starts with a strong workplace culture, consistent training and constant reminders.
“I think it’s our duty as a company to make sure people are safe,” said David Frazier, CEO of Hardaway Construction. “We cannot build projects without the workers who are working. It’s our responsibility to make sure they’re safe, and I think that starts with our culture.”
Tennessee Ranks High in Workplace Deaths and Injuries
A Recent Analysis by Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers Abels and Annes PC, ranked Tennessee third in the nation with 129 deaths per 100,000 workers from 2017 to 2024, behind only South Dakota and Delaware. According to the report, the state had the seventh-highest number of OSHA construction citations from January 2017 to January 2024.
In Nashville, where the construction boom has drawn workers from across the country, several high-profile deaths have brought the issue of safety to the industry’s forefront.
Denis Geovani Ba Ché, 20, died in October 2023 while repairing the roof at Glencliff High School. In 2020, 16-year-old Gustavo Ramirez died after falling approximately 120 feet into a LaQuinta Inn and Suites construction site in the West Bank. A total of 16 Nashville construction workers died in 2016 and 2017, a Tennessee analysis revealed.
What are the most common safety violations on construction sites? Lack of eye and face protection and lack of fall protection training – especially in residential projects.
Heat and exposure in the present summer months another safety challenge for construction workers in Tennessee. High heat can cause colic, dehydration and heatstroke. Underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, can also be exacerbated by heat.
Regulators struggle to keep up with complaints
For TOSHA, the work of inspecting construction sites in Tennessee while juggling inspections in the public sector and manufacturing industry has grown beyond the office’s limited resources.
According to Wendy Fisher, TOSHA assistant commissioner, the office receives 300 to 400 complaints per month, which can include death, amputation, hospitalization and loss of an eye. The office conducts about 30 to 50 workplace death investigations each year.
When compliance officers are not fully occupied with investigations, they visit construction sites for random inspections. But they can’t visit all the sites.
“We just work with what we can with the people we have,” Fisher said. “We could bring all the compliance people to Nashville and keep them busy.”
While TOSHA compliance officers cannot visit every construction site in the state, let alone Nashville, the Metro Council has introduced legislation to create an additional layer of oversight at city-controlled construction sites like the one Denis Geovani Ba Ché worked before falling to his death.
District 30 Council Member Sandra Sepulveda on May 21 introduced a bill to establish a board to monitor and inspect Metro’s existing construction projects to ensure safe working conditions.
The board would have no oversight authority and would forward inspection findings to federal or state regulators.
Rodriguez, an organizer with the Painters and Allied Trades Union, said support from Metro Nashville Public Schools, the Metro Council and other unions and advocacy groups has been crucial in raising the issue.
“Everyone is willing to listen,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a problem here. It’s the irresponsibility of the contractors. All we’re trying to do is hold people accountable.”
‘Going home safely at the end of the day’
At Skanska USA, one of the largest construction companies in the country, safety is deeply ingrained in the culture, according to Tennessee Vice President of Operations Rob Johnson.
Skanska was the prime contractor for Nashville’s Fifth + Broadway development and has worked on construction projects in Franklin, Clarksville It is Chattanooga, among other cities in Tennessee. The construction company’s Nashville-area office consistently earns high scores on the Associated Builders and Contractors’ STEP Safety Management System, a program that aims to create safer workplaces.
Johnson said consistent standards for workplace safety start at the top, with good planning and communication.
“Everyone in our workplaces should have the same expectations as me,” Johnson said. “And that’s coming home safely at the end of the day. Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
All business partners on Skanska construction sites undergo safety training before starting work. The company also uses a digital platform called Planit, which identifies potential dangers during the day’s tasks and draws up a safety plan.
Internal programs like the “Good Catch” initiative, which allows all workers and business partners to digitally upload photographs and track information in the workplace, ensure that accountability can come from all levels.
“It’s not about catching someone doing the wrong thing, it’s about stopping someone from doing the wrong thing,” Johnson said.
Hardaway, a Nashville-based construction company that builds numerous residential and multifamily projects, also uses consistent and persistent training to maintain high safety standards. The company, like Skanska, offers safety training and guidance to business partners in English and Spanish to prevent language barriers from causing unsafe workplaces.
Frazier, who purchased the company from the Hardaway family in 2018, said security challenges are compounded by layers of subcontractors who act more like labor brokers than employers. Therefore, it hires commercial partners who have gone through a pre-qualification process.
“We have pretty strict guidelines with these guys,” Frazier said. “But I’d rather lose labor or construction than have someone get hurt.”
This article originally appeared in the Nashville Tennessean: Construction Workers Unions and TN OSHA Work to Address Death Rate
