Safety in the Sky
November 16, 2005 — Yesterday's ironworkers • often referred to as “cowboys in the sky” • were a rough-and-tough breed. Always living up to their daredevil reputation, these cowboys could walk a balance beam at 200 feet in the air as well as any Olympic gymnast. If they couldn't, they knew serious injury or sudden death was eminent.
Katie Parrish
In the early to mid-1900s, death and accidents was an ever-present danger for ironworkers. In fact, Ironworkers Local 55 in Toledo, Ohio, reports that between 1911 and 1956, 68 members of the union died • 20 from on-the-job falls, electrocutions, and accidents • not to mention the countless injuries sustained, such as broken ribs, hands, and legs; sprained ankles; broken pelvises; back injuries; and eye injuries.
Even today, iron work is still considered dangerous. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1997 and 1999, ironworkers ranked the highest in on-the-job fatalities • at least six times higher than the rate for all construction occupations. But as safety standards and the corporate safety culture have changed, so has the ironworker's outlook. Rather than risking it all, they've started questioning whether it's actually worth the risk.
With the increased awareness in safety, it's unusual that Michigan ironworkers would want to rescind back to the old days with their proposed amendment to MIOSHA's R 408.2605, Michigan's comparable standard to OSHA 1926 Subpart R • Steel Erection (copies of the proposed amendments may be obtained from www.michigan.gov/mioshastandards under the "What's New" section). Under the proposal, they would like to clarify the definition of “headache ball,” add a definition for “load line standing platform,” and list specific instances when and how an ironworker may be lifted to the workstation via a headache ball. In short, with the addition of the load line standing platform in the standard, ironworkers will use a platform that attaches to the headache ball to stand on while the crane lifts the worker to the job.
While it's rare for a state to deviate from federal OSHA (in most instances of state diversions, they opt for more stringent definitions and guidelines),
In a number of other industries, less-than-safe lifting practices have been replaced by the use of self-propelled aerial lifts, telehandlers with personnel platform attachments, mast-climbing work platforms, and personnel baskets lifted by cranes. Even ironworkers' daring balancing acts of the early 20th century have been replaced with safety nets and lanyards. As we travel into the 21st century, implementing unsafe practices is unacceptable. Keep our cowboys riding in the sky, but do it safely.