Introduction • Florida's Latest Data on Safety, Health & Sustainability • Hurricane Recovery Resources • OSHA Update • Leading Voices • Safety Means Success Video Campaign • Fall Protection Safety Training Discount

This has continued to be the number one violation within the workplace year in and year out. Some others also making the Top 10 list tied to falls is Ladders at number four with 2,143 citations. In 2022 and Fall Protection – Training Requirements coming in at number eight with 1,556 citations issued.

OSHA requires that Fall Protection be provided at elevations of four feet in General Industry workplaces, five feet in Shipyards, six feet in the Construction Industry and eight feet in Longshoring Operations. In addition, OSHA requires that Fall Protection be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance.

Falls are the number one most common cause of fatalities in the workplace, which in turn are also the number one cited violations from OSHA. On average, there are just over 800 fatalities resulting from falls in the workplace every year. That is equivalent to approximately 2.2 fatalities every day, every 12 hours one worker is killed due to a fall within the workplace. These fatalities are a result from falling as low as even three feet to higher heights. The statistics are based off workplace fatalities, but keep in mind these happen even greater in a private setting such as your home, while being on vacation and numerous other extracurricular activities outside of the workplace.

If you would like to volunteer to help communities in Southwest Florida recover from Hurricane Ian, Volunteer Florida is the official place to learn about a variety of Florida's volunteer opportunities here. I am praying for those who are suffering from Hurricane Ian and I know we will rally together to build back Florida even stronger.

State comparisons of workplace fatalities. The Florida Chamber of Commerce wanted to know how Florida’s safety metrics compared with other states. First the data on fatalities was standardized by the number of private industry workers to be able to compare states. This produced a rate for each state of fatalities per 100,000 workers. Fatality rates ranged from 1.68 in the District of Columbia to 14.95 in Wyoming for the year 2018. Florida had the 23rd lowest fatality rate across all 50 states, not including the District of Columbia. Florida’s workplace fatality rate was slightly higher than the national average. An important distinction about this comparison is that the fatality rate greatly depends on the industry make-up of each economy. As the previously reviewed data clearly shows, there is wide variance by industry. The highest fatality rates are typically in states that have high levels of extractive industries that are particularly dangerous. As mentioned, Florida has a larger percentage of workers in construction than the national average. Given the greater statistical risks in this industry, we evaluated the fatality rate of solely the construction industry across all states. This helps ascertain if construction in Florida is more or less dangerous when compared to the construction industry of other states.

Reducing the reliance on opioids in workers’ compensation is a clear national priority. All but one of the 27 states studied by WCRI reduced their average MME per claim between 2012 and 2016, but with considerable variation. In Florida, the MME per claim has decreased by 23 percent during the study period. This is not as big of a decline as some of the other states studied. It may be that because Florida took dramatic steps during 2010 and 2012 the bulk of opioid reduction is not captured in this time series. Most importantly the WCRI study found that while opioid dispensing is down, other non-opioid forms of pain management have increased. This is encouraging data that shows the pain of injured workers is still being treated, albeit with less reliance on opioids.

Last week, one of the most destructive hurricanes in Florida’s history made landfall Wednesday afternoon as a powerful Category 4 storm, hitting the southwest coast of Florida at Cayo Costa near Fort Myers and Cape Coral. Hurricane Ian has caused loss of life, leaving over 2.6 million Floridians without power and countless communities under water. As a business community, we are uniting to ensure we can get Floridians, Florida communities and businesses through this and eventually back on their feet.

Please click here for resources to help yourself, your community, and local businesses assess the damage, donate, volunteer, and prepare for any future disasters.

Browse the latest OSHA updates below:

Would you consider safety to be your company’s number one priority? Many companies care about safety, but only when they have to. It is not present in their mission or vision statements nor is it woven into the everyday fiber of the organization. Looking past safety policies and binders of training material on dusty shelves often reveals that companies are not nearly as safe as they appear on paper. As the former head of OSHA, I know this common mistake is a reactionary occurrence that can greatly risk the health and safety of employees, as well as cost employers significant sums.

Far beyond ensuring employees are checking off mandatory trainings, a company with a strong safety culture is one that seeks out potential risks and goes the distance to prevent them from happening. While this can seem like a daunting task for a start-up or small to mid-sized business, the Florida Chamber Safety Council stands in solidarity that safety is worth investing in and serves as a voice for all businesses, large and small, across the state. Setting the national standard, the Florida Chamber Safety Council offers a variety of trainings, webinars, and other resources to move the needle on the safety, health and sustainability of all Florida employers and employees.

With falls as the number one most common cause of fatalities in the workplace, and is again the number one cited violation from OSHA, we are sharing our Safety Means Success Campaign - an educational video series focused on making safety and training a core value in the workplace. Our first video campaign is dedicated to Construction which leads the state in workplace fatalities.

There are two separate showcases: one presents construction safety from the employer's perspective, and the second video series presents construction safety from the employee's perspective. These videos are available as a resource to you in both English and Spanish.

Help us continue sharing the message of #SafetyMeansSuccess—by sharing these videos with your employees, managers, partners and through social media to amplify the message.

Join the Florida Chamber Safety Council as we educate organizations on the OSHA standards and requirements and best safety practices to lower workplace injuries and eliminate fatalities. The Florida Chamber Safety Council is dedicated to keeping Florida's workers safe and has declared October Fall Protection Safety Training Month.

The Florida Chamber Safety Council is offering Florida's job creators 25% - 35% off* our Fall Protection Safety Training if booked during the month of October. This course will assist participants in identifying fall hazards and utilizing best practices in the elimination of predictable and identifiable slip, trip, and fall hazards.