Engagement with Safety Practices Improves Project Outcomes

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

A contractor’s approach to safety will help them be more competitive in the market and retain employees.

A recent Dodge Data & Analytics SmartMarket Report titled “Safety Management in the Construction Industry 2020” finds that contractors continue to report benefits emerging when they engage their employees in safety practices. The study, released last month, found that contractors were experiencing positive impacts in a long list of areas, with the top five being willingness of jobsite workers to report unsafe conditions, reportable injury rates, standing in the industry, the ability to contract new work and the quality of their projects.

A contractor’s approach to safety will help them be more competitive in the market and should be part of their strategic planning, according to the executive summary in the report. More than two thirds of contractors reported that their safety programs have a positive effect on obtaining new contracts and more than half said their safety programs were key to staff retention.

The survey, since 2015, has shown that contractors believe that involving their jobsite workers in their safety programs is a key factor in having a world-class safety program. In this year’s survey, contractors have added that strong safety leadership from the supervisors and regular safety meetings between workers and supervisors are also essential to a strong safety culture.

The study also revealed that 71 percent of contractors rely on their supervisors or foreman to handle safety trainings, whereas 56 percent have an in -house trainer, 28 percent rely on a third-party trainer and only 13 percent use online resources.

Top obstacles to increasing safety training were found to be the time needed to provide the additional training, the cost of the training, the belief that the current program is sufficient and the lack of resources to manage and administer the training.

Contractors do report that they feel emerging technologies such as wearables devices, artificial intelligence and drones all can potentially impact and improve safety. Technology will allow for the gathering of data in some case in real time, that can help evaluate and identify ways to improve on safety even further.

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