About Us

About The National Campaign To Prevent Falls In Construction

The Falls Campaign began in 2012 with NORA (English), NIOSH (English, Español), CPWR (English, Español), and OSHA (English, Español) seeking a way to raise awareness of the fact that falls are the top cause of construction fatalities and account for one-third of on-the-job injury deaths in the industry, with a disproportionate number of those occurring in the residential sector. Each year in the U.S. construction industry, over 10,000 workers are seriously injured by falls and one worker dies every day from a fall to a lower level.

Contractors, workers — all industry stakeholders — can help prevent falls and save lives by joining the Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction. Read the How-To Guide for Partners Joining the Falls Campaign (English) for background information on developing your own Safety Pays, Falls Cost campaign in your community.

In 2014, organizers added the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction as the main event associated with the Falls Campaign. In 2024, the Falls Campaign established its Premier Partner Program. Premier Partner organizations committed to film and share a short video, promote official Campaign/Stand-Down webinars, engage on social media, and direct their members and networks to OSHA’s Certificate of Participation after the Stand-Down. If you’re interested in becoming a Premier Partner for a future Stand-Down, check out our campaign leader page here.

Although the National Safety Stand-Down happens every May, the Falls Campaign is a year-round effort. Find resources here about year-round fall prevention.

About the National “Stand-Down” Event

In a construction setting, the term “safety stand-down” is used to describe a wide variety of activities where normal work is paused and the entire site focuses on a particular safety issue. While some employers may use stand-downs to call attention to specific hazards present on their site as an intervention, the Falls Campaign has adopted the use of the stand-down to draw attention to fall hazards in a nationwide week-long event.  It’s an opportunity for employers to pause work and have a conversation with workers about fall hazards, protective methods, and the company’s safety policies, goals and expectations.  This should also be an opportunity for workers to talk to management about fall hazards they see.

Who is it for?

Participation began with, but is not limited to, the construction industry, and no business is too large or small to participate.  In previous years, we’ve had participants in residential construction, commercial construction, industrial construction, mining, general industry, and more. Learn more about past participants through our evaluation efforts.