06/25/2020
Fun safety fact about the Golden Gate Bridge! Construction of the bridge in the 1930’s was the first time fall protection was used to save workers lives(40 years before OSHA was created). Before this project, bridge construction workers had been considered reckless daredevils who worked without any safety precautions. They had to be fearless to climb the high steel and deal with the rugged weather and risky footing. The Golden Gate was built during the Great Depression, when 1 in 4 Americans were unemployed. Getting a job on the bridge was like winning the lottery. The men waiting to get a job were hoping someone would hurt themselves so they could replace them.Chief engineer Joseph Strauss insisted on the use of the most extensive safety precautions in the history of bridge building and latest safety innovations. The industry norm at that time was that one man would die during construction for every million dollars spent. This bridge cost $35 million. They installed a safety net underneath the entire bridge during construction for $1 million. The net saved 19 workers lives, this group was famously called the “Halfway to Hell Club”. It also was the first big job to require fall prevention and other safety equipment and would fire employees who didn’t use the safety gear. Some other safety requirements on the job were Bullard hard hats, sand blast respirator helmets(to prevent inhalation of lead tainted fumes), safety lines, glare free goggles for visibility and blindness by the suns reflection off the water, special hand and face cream to protect skin from the constant winds, special diets to fight dizziness, sauerkraut juice “hangover cures”, and an onsite field hospital. Even with these precautions, 11 men died during construction. 10 of which lost their lives when a scaffold fell through the safety net. Strauss’ safety regulations can be reasonably credited with saving many lives and setting a new worksite safety standard. He proved to the world that safety equipment saves lives. Pretty incredible! Kudos to the amazing Golden Gate! 🌁🌉👷🏽♂️⚒ p.s. going to try the sauerkraut juice 😉🍻👷♀️
