Every year, workplace construction safety continues to be a high-priority aim across the U.S. To combat the rising rate of fatalities and workplace injuries, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was enacted on April 28, 1971. The federal agency offers top-notch safety training programs for construction workers along with highly updated resources with learning guidelines. Though the rate of injuries and fatalities has reduced significantly since OSHA’s inception, a high-risk factor remains in the industry that should not be neglected.
In 2022, there were roughly 320,000 absentees in construction due to injuries caused at the work site. There was also a 5.7% increase in fatal work injuries from 2021 to 2022 — with the fatal work injury rate increasing to 3.7 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers.
Fatal occupational injuries in 2022 were due to:
- Violence and other injuries by persons or animals: 15%
- Transportation incidents: 37%
- Fire or explosion: 1.9%
- Fall, slip, trip: 16%
- Exposure to harmful substances or environments: 15%
- Contact with objects and equipment: 13%
To mitigate these risks on the job, learning and development (L&D) leaders in construction must take the right measures to educate their workforce on safety best practices and protect them from harm.
Ensure Workplace Safety in Construction
Employers bear a legal responsibility to follow safety regulations and adhere to legal requirements. Building a safe work environment can maximize your company’s productivity and protect it from hefty OSHA penalties. The minimum OSHA penalty is $16,131 per violation.
Because of this, many firms recognize the importance of safety training in construction and becoming certified on work safety. For example, Exline, Inc. hired a safety consultant who first reported all the hazards along with a comprehensive plan to ensure training employees in construction on workplace safety and health. The company later achieved the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) certificate in June 2022.
Best construction safety practices for employers.
Under the General Duty Clause, employers are obliged to offer a place of employment that is “free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” To communicate the importance of these safety regulations, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lays down safety standards and recommendations. Here are some safety standards inspired by NIOSH:
Risk assessment and hazard identification.
Every year, almost 65,000 fatalities are linked to hazardous substances. It’s advisable to outsource a professional consultant who can carry out a detailed risk assessment and thorough survey for identifying hazards within your company. By identifying potential hazards, L&D can proactively address issues beforehand.
Investing in quality safety training programs.
Eliminating fatal risks on the job site can save lives. To prevent injuries or worse, L&D leaders must train construction workers on workplace safety laws and regulations. They must also ensure that employees attend the sessions and follow guidelines to promote a safer work environment.
Safety equipment and resources.
OSHA’s safety and health regulations for construction requires employers to ensure appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in all operations where there is an exposure to hazardous conditions. L&D leaders must ensure employees know when and how to wear PPE, and how to utilize proper tools, gears and resources to safeguard them from potential harm.
Effective Safety Training For Construction Workers
Training is an important catalyst to increasing workplace safety in construction. Learning leaders are responsible for guiding workers on industry best practices, helping them identify and mitigate hazards and reinforcing the learning to ensure compliance and promote a safe work culture. With regular training, L&D can take preventative measures to mitigating the risk of work fatalities.
OSHA has a lot of resources and guides to help learning leaders educate their construction workforce on how to identify and prevent hazards on the job. To train employees, L&D professionals should follow these key points:
Interactive and practical training methods.
Training methods for construction workers should simulate real-life examples with hands-on, interactive learning. The training should address real challenges workers will face while on the job and highlight the precautionary measures to take for each scenario. This training should be regularly reinforced to increase learning stickiness and better outcomes.
Communication and feedback.
Clear and open communication is imperative during training sessions. Participants should feel confident and comfortable raising questions and sharing their opinions. Along with facilitating the learning, L&D professionals are responsible for creating a psychologically safe learning environment. Learning leaders must encourage discussions among peers to identify problems and risks that employees are encountering in real time. They must also leave time for feedback to continuously improve the training.
Utilizing technology for training.
Tech-driven approaches can maximize the effectiveness of your training sessions. Learning tech like interactive videos, 3D modeling and augmented reality (AR) integrated tools can train construction workers in an immersive way.
Learning leaders can utilize AR and virtual reality (VR) headsets in training to simulate the workplace and teach employees how to identify and avoid fatal hazards. From cloud-based mobile applications to drone technology, the construction industry has revolutionized greatly and this needs to be demonstrated in training.
Monitoring and evaluation.
Regular evaluation is a must to produce effective outcomes and stay updated with changing industry standards and needs. Targeted metrics and data can help training professionals measure the impact of their training sessions and if it procured a behavior change. In this case, learning leaders can measure the number of incidents pre-training and post-training. This helps provide insight on whether employees retained the learning or if supplemental training is needed. Data can also help learning professionals continuously improve their training methods and practices.
Wrap Up
The number of fatal and nonfatal injuries continues to increase every year. Learning leaders in construction must design and deliver the proper training to mitigate risk and eliminate hazards on the job. They must also ensure their construction workforce is educated on proper protocols, tools, gears and PPE, for example.
If organizations prioritize their workers’ health and well-being, it’s possible to achieve a future with minimal to no fatalities. However, to achieve this goal, L&D leaders must step into their role to establish and maintain a safe, protected and thriving workplace for construction workers.
