Nearly 6.5 million people work at more than 250,000 construction sites across the country each day, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). While most of these workers go home without serious injury, the fatal injury rate in the construction industry is, unfortunately, higher than the national average for all other industries. Construction workers are exposed to many possible extreme hazards, including falls from heights, trench collapses, scaffold collapses, electric shock, repetitive motion injuries and more.
Not only are these risks physical, but they can also be extremely expensive for a construction business owner, posing a financial risk that can impact their bottom line. It’s estimated that for every dollar spent on a workers’ compensation insurance claim, five dollars is spent on indirect costs, like lost productivity, hiring and retraining staff and replacing or repairing damaged equipment.
These expenses can add up quickly if there isn’t an underlying workplace culture that prioritizes safety among your employees.
Whether your employees are carpenters, roofers, drywall installers, electricians, excavators, deck builders, siding installers, or pavers, by developing a safety plan and following construction safety best practices, you’ll help ensure that your team has a safe work environment.
Small construction businesses have more resources than ever to help keep their employees safe thanks to safety apps and other new technologies. By implementing proper safety techniques, you can save your team from unnecessary grief and pain while reducing the number of workers’ compensation insurance claims filed — leading to a sometimes-significant reduction of your overall costs. From my experience working in the insurance industry for 14 years, particularly with workers’ compensation providers, I’ve seen my fair share of reported injuries of ranging severities. I’ve been able to compile a list of best practices that business owners or managers can follow to help keep both your team and your business safe, including:
• Create a plan — While you can’t predict every type of emergency, every workplace should, at a minimum, have a plan for dealing with a variety of scenarios, including falls from heights, machine-related injuries and other medical emergencies. Employees should be trained on what’s in the plan and what they should do in the case of an emergency, including explicitly detailing how workers should report injuries and how to promptly get help. Consider reviewing these plans regularly to keep them up to date with your current projects.
• Maintain your tools — Correct maintenance and proper use of tools can allow for a safer work environment. Understand that power tools can cause severe injuries if they malfunction or are used incorrectly, even in professional hands. Require all employees to read the safety manual before using a new tool for the first time. Team leaders should also provide enough supplies, such as ladders and footstools, of the right height for the jobsite. Provide personal protective equipment (PPE) like goggles, gloves, helmets and earplugs — make sure to do regular checkups to make sure that the gear is still working correctly.
• Create clear hazard communication — Implement a written hazard communication program for employees that includes
a list of all the hazardous materials on the jobsite and an explanation of how you will comply with OSHA’s standards for each. Plan on updating this communication and circulating it within your company annually.
• Implement a proper training program — Proper training is key to workplace safety, and that starts with ensuring all workers are adequately trained on the health and safety risks in their workplaces. If required, only allow workers who are qualified or certified to complete certain tasks. Training programs can be as simple as providing training in safe lifting methods, or as complex as providing training on heavy machinery. Additionally, it’s important to meet your workers where they are by training them to use tools and machinery in a language they understand.
• Outline a reasonable timeline on all projects — Put the safety of your team first by allowing workers the appropriate and correct amount of time to get projects done. Set work-rest schedules according to temperature conditions, how strenuous the work is and how familiar the worker is with the workload. You can also rotate employees’ tasks, especially those that require using the same repeated motion and consider using mechanical equipment to complete repetitive employee tasks.
• Develop a safety-driven dress code — Advise your team to dress for the weather, including wearing high-visibility colors, long pants, sturdy shoes and gloves and ear and eye protection. All construction workers should avoid any loose clothing or jewelry that could get caught in equipment. If you work in a wet environment, consider providing or requiring slip-resistant footwear to employees, since it can reduce as much as 67% of work-related slips, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Encourage healthy habits — You should also train and remind your employees to take a few moments during their shifts to stretch or take breaks, especially if they spend a lot of time carrying loads, bending, reaching or repeating the same motions. It’s important to rest periodically during particularly strenuous jobs such as jackhammering or sawing. These breaks should be a routine part of the workday and encouraged by all the management team at your business.
• Incentivize safety at work — To help encourage your workers to make safety a priority, consider offering prizes or awards for those who follow the safety program or hit time milestones while remaining injury-free. Prizes such as lottery scratch-offs, coffee gift cards or 30 minutes of extra paid-time-off are impactful ways to help motivate your team.
Perhaps most importantly, require that all employee injuries — no matter how small — are reported to you or your management immediately when they happen. Allow for an open and honest communication line with your employees when it comes to injuries — then you can be the one to evaluate the severity of the injury and advise on next steps.
By creating a culture that values workplace safety and implementing these best practices, you can create a much safer work environment for your employees and avoid expensive workers’ compensation insurance claims that can negatively impact your business.
