Highway spending. Negotiations are under way to determine how much money the federal government will spend on the nation’s transportation infrastructure from 2004-2009.

According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), the Bush Administration wants to spend $206 billion (or 10.7 percent decline with inflation taken into account). The House is proposing to spend $221.9 billion (which would amount to 4.2 percent increase in real spending) and the Senate wants to spend $238 billion (which is an 18.6 percent increase in real spending).

Those amounts represent construction spending only; other, higher amounts previously approved by the House and Senate and reported here included spending for non-construction items.

Negotiations are underway in Congress to determine how to divvy up the taxpayer dollars. Michigan could be a major loser in highway funding if the higher proposed amount in the Senate isn’t adopted.

Michigan worker fatalities drop. As workers and public health professionals around the country paid tribute to colleagues who died on the job on Workers Memorial Day, a report released last month shows that the number of Michigan workers killed in job-related injuries decreased in 2002, the last year complete statistics were available.

The report, compiled by Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (MIFACE), a joint program of Michigan State University and Wayne State University, shows that 151 Michigan workers died from on-the-job injuries in 2002, down from 174 in 2001 and 156 in 2000. Preliminary estimates indicate 151 Michigan workers also died in 2003 from job-related injuries.

The report is released in conjunction with Workers Memorial Day on April 28. According to MIFACE, more than 90 percent of Michigan workers killed on the job were males. The youngest death was that of a 13-year-old boy killed after becoming entangled in a farming tractor. The oldest was an 85-year-old owner of a car dealership who died when a car he was moving to another part of his parking lot hit a tree.

The most dangerous profession in 2002 was construction, as more than 26 percent of the deaths occurred in that field. Sixteen percent of the deaths occurred in manufacturing, 14 percent in farming and 13 percent in retail trade.

Construction fatalities studied. An analysis of U.S. construction fatalities by the University of Tennessee released last month found that falls from roofs or structures accounted for more than 20 percent of construction deaths.

The study separated those types of falls into two categories. The third most common cause of construction fatality was being crushed or run over by construction equipment, followed by electric shock, then lifting operations.

The study, based on 2002 statistics, found that there were more fatalities in construction industry than in any other industry.

The statistics that were compiled were in line with historic numbers compiled by OSHA.

Raise the flags. Nearly 18,000 Michigan contractors, excavators and landscapers received a mailing this spring that promotes safe digging and offers them a chance to win tickets to see the Detroit Red Wings.

Individual trades workers won’t get the chance to win tickets, but it’s not a bad time to remind everyone to dig carefully this construction season. The mailing, supported by Consumers Energy, DTE Energy, MISS DIG System, Inc. and the Michigan Damage Prevention Board, reminds contractors to follow specific safe digging guidelines:

1. Call MISS DIG at (800) 482-7171. MISS DIG is the service created by Michigan utilities to coordinate staking requests.
2. Wait at least three business days to give local utilities time to “raise the flags” over their underground lines.
3. Dig by hand to expose underground utility lines before using power equipment.
4. Respect the flags and be aware of underground facilities whenever working in their vicinity.

Steve Kindschy, a MISS DIG board member and manager of gas operations services for Consumers Energy, said the “Raise The Flags” campaign fills an important need in Michigan’s contractor/excavator community. “Every year, there are over 10,000 dig-in damage incidents in Michigan that cause loss of utility services, injuries and even death,” Kindschy said. “This communications effort helps assure the safety of workers and the general public and reduces the damage caused to buried utility lines.