Today’s Random Object was a construction worker figurine from the Safari Ltd. People at Work set. Full PPE means OSHA was onsite for a visit…
Sketch & Coffee, Live! is streamed daily at 5:30am, Texas Time, at the YouTubes
At first, I thought it was David Hodo from the Village People… until I noticed he was wearing a shirt. Definitely not disco-ready. This guy was kitted out head to toe in PPE like OSHA had just walked onto the site. Hard hat, insulated gloves, fire-retardant clothes, steel-toed boots, toolbox at his feet… He was the safety poster child.
That got us talking about how long people have been building things, and how little we cared about safety for most of that history. From the 11,500-year-old site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, to the Roman Colosseum, to Notre Dame Cathedral, safety rules were minimal to nonexistent. The Notre Dame mention led to a brief detour into Disney’s Hunchback and the mystery of who sang that high final note in “The Bells of Notre Dame.” Turns out it was a tenor named Paul Kandel, not a baritone (me) defying the laws of physics.
The first hard hats did not appear until 1919, and steel-toed boots not until the 1930s. By the time the Empire State Building went up in 1930–31, they were starting to take worker protection seriously with harnesses, helmets, and safety lines, but still lost five workers on that single project.
Compare that to today. So far in 2025, only four workers have died across all DOB-regulated building projects in New York City. That is not because construction is suddenly risk-free. It is because of the standards, training, and gear that keep people alive. Sure, some rules slow projects down and tempt crews to cut corners, but the overall effect is undeniable: more workers going home to their families instead of becoming statistics.
Click here to watch the Construction Worker episide of Sketch & Coffee, Live!
Also, if you or a teacher friend are in need of a 20-30 minute lesson about construction safety through the years, have this one for free:
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