A news release (PDF, below) from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and CPWR (The Center for Construction Research and Training), indicates that construction falls “continue to be the leading cause of work-related injury and deaths in construction.” More than 10,000 private sector construction workers were injured falling last year and 255 of those falls, sadly, resulted in death.

A new website, Stop Construction Falls, has launched to raise awareness about this safety issue. The site features a map of where 2011′s construction fall fatalities occurred, training resources on the subject, a video, Don’t Fall For It!, featuring first-person accounts of workers who have fallen and family members of one fatal fall victim.

NIOSH Update Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction