"Tragedy on I-695: Shedding Light on the Invisibility of Construction Workers"

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous in the United States, with 1,034 fatal occupational injuries among all construction workers and 74,520 nonfatal injuries among private wage-and-salary construction workers in 2020. Work-zone crashes have been occurring more frequently, increasing by 18 percent between 2011 and 2020. Workers aren’t only losing their lives in “struck by” incidents, which can involve getting struck by vehicles, falling objects or construction equipment. They are also dying at disproportionate rates by suicide and drug overdoses. The National Stand-Down to Prevent Struck-by Incidents is being held in conjunction with the National Work Zone Awareness Week to raise awareness of the deadly risks construction workers face every day.