In the dynamic world of construction, safety management isn’t just a moral obligation. It’s a strategic move for long-term success. By putting safety first, you’re protecting your workers and reaping tangible benefits: reduced costs and liabilities, enhanced productivity and quality, and a more committed, resilient workforce.
However, as construction practices and technologies evolve, safety protocols must do the same. It’s essential to leverage safety innovations while tackling emerging challenges head-on.
This guide explores the elements that underlie an effective occupational safety program. It also underscores the impact of a proactive, data-driven approach to incident prevention. Let’s get started.
10 Elements of a Successful Safety Management Program
When it comes to safety management in construction, a well-thought-out safety program contains multiple interrelated elements, including:
Worker engagement
Your workforce is at the heart of safety management. Cultivating a safety culture through regular toolbox talks, health and safety meetings, and open communication channels empowers your workers to identify potential hazards and voice their concerns freely.
Our data shows that when workers are regularly updated on health and safety and asked to provide their input, 94% of contractors see increased worker engagement with safety protocols and incident reporting.
When safety is a shared responsibility embraced by the whole team, workers are equipped to develop a safety-first mindset rooted in personal accountability.
However, if a company plans for hazards in advance, workers can be more attuned to them and manage them better. This is where pre-task planning comes in.
Thorough pre-task planning (PTP)
Effective safety management begins in the preconstruction planning phases—long before ground is broken. Our data indicates that 73% of contractors who create comprehensive health and safety plans before construction starts experience reduced recordable injury rates. Moreover, 74% of contractors report increased worker engagement with safety processes, alongside improved productivity (34%), more predictable costs (27%), and less rework (20%).
These statistics underscore the importance of pre-task planning (PTP). Tailored safety plans identify potential hazards, outline control measures, and clearly define stakeholder roles and responsibilities.
Here are some examples of the most widely-used PTP activities:
- Discuss ways to control each hazard
- Identify hazards associated with each step of every task
- Discuss hazards posed by other crews
- Conduct daily walkthroughs to understand site conditions
- Incorporate workers’ feedback
The data also shows that involving four or more roles in pre-task planning—including estimators, project owners, architects, design firms, and suppliers—leads to even more significant safety benefits. The numbers only increase for contractors that involve a Safety and Health Director in the process.
Continuous risk assessment
Risk assessment is central to effective safety management as projects change and evolve.
New hazards may emerge as conditions change, while existing risks can increase scope and severity. By leveraging modern tools like predictive analytics, potential dangers can be mapped and mitigated before something goes wrong.
For example, we found that contractors use the following means to assess risks posed by heat exposure:
- Local weather forecasts
- Physical demands of the work
- Type of clothing and PPE
- OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool
- WetBulb Globe Temperature
This preventive approach stands apart in an industry often marked by reactive crisis responses; a proactive approach to safety management can make all the difference. Our findings show that companies that embrace proactive planning, including ongoing risk assessment, experience significantly enhanced safety outcomes.
Mentoring and safety training
A well-trained workforce is vital for sustaining an incident-free job site.
Mentoring can be a valuable way to enhance the safety culture at your company and ensure that valuable safety expertise is shared with less experienced staff.
Our data indicates that approximately half of contractors have implemented mentorship programs focused on health and safety.
Structured curriculums cover everything from hazard awareness and prevention to learning the proper use of equipment, tools, and machinery. Here are some examples of topics that are often the focus of a mentorship program:
- Safety procedures
- Construction topics
- Career path
- Company policy
- Women in the trades
- Technology use
As trust builds, the free-flowing exchange of ideas and safety insights becomes ingrained in your company’s culture.
Moreover, with an aging workforce, younger workers need to benefit from older workers’ expertise before they retire. Cross-training and job shadowing allow lessons to be passed down effectively.
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is fundamental to safety management in construction. Providing workers with hats, safety glasses, protective garments, fall protection systems, etc., can significantly reduce injury rates and severity.
However, our findings revealed that only 63% of construction companies with less than 20 employees provide PPE designed for women or others larger or smaller than the average American male. This leaves many workers exposed to hazards due to ill-fitting PPE.
“When we have improperly fitted PPE, it’s creating a new hazard,” says Katie E. Stryker, assistant vice president of risk control with CNA Insurance. “You are creating a situation where the improper fit may cause an incident to occur.”
Comprehensive PPE programs should address this gap by incorporating worker feedback, stringent inspections, and training on proper usage limitations.
Worker health and well-being
A culture of safety goes beyond addressing physical hazards alone.
It’s equally important to tackle challenges like heat exposure, chronic pain, mental health, and substance abuse. Doing so boosts productivity, prevents absenteeism and turnover, and fosters a supportive work environment.
“Construction is hard on our bodies, and it’s hard on our minds,” says Rick Reams, vice president of safety and quality at the Murphy Company, a mechanical contracting company. “It’s been eye-opening for people to recognize the severity of the problem.”
One of the most effective strategies for protecting workers’ mental health and overall well-being is injury prevention. As well as being a direct stressor, chronic pain can impact mental health through sleep deprivation, fatigue, and opioid use.
Although gaps remain, wellness initiatives like Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), mental health and substance use counseling, ergonomic assessments, and heat stress programs can go a long way toward fostering a culture of safety on the job site.
Dealing with heat exposure
Heat exposure is one of construction’s biggest threats to worker health and safety. Our data indicates that 19% of surveyed contractors have experienced heat-related medical emergencies or injuries on their job sites in recent years alone.
Over half of construction firms have begun safeguarding against heat-related illnesses and injuries, though concerning gaps persist. Many firms still need a written heat safety program detailing risk assessments and methods for managing heat exposure beyond providing water, rest, and shade.
We found that larger companies with a written safety plan were more likely to employ the following enhanced protocols:
- Worker training
- Environmental monitoring
- Administrative controls
- Emergency response plan
Companies must adopt an integrated approach to assessing risk and dealing with heat exposure.
Safe technology integration
Construction technology like Building Information Modelling (BIM), predictive analytics, drones, and laser scanning offers the potential for enhanced safety management. However, these advanced tools need specialized training and procedures for operation, maintenance, and inspection.
Data tools can improve safety a critical area. Safety data can reveal trends that help companies determine where to focus their efforts to improve safety, whether through investing in better gear to protect employees, creating safer project layouts, or offering increased training in certain areas.
Encouragingly, 56% of small contractors currently use digital technologies to improve safety. However, nearly half of companies need help to leverage the safety data these technologies generate. This is an opportunity for technology companies to provide more information on best practices for gathering and utilizing good data.
Emergency preparedness
Even with the most rigorous protocols, workplace accidents remain a risk in construction. Establishing an emergency response plan is critical for minimizing fallout while safeguarding workers during crises.
Data shows that general contractors have emergency response plans more frequently than specialty subcontractors (43% versus 31%). This makes sense, given the general contractors’ overall responsibility for the job site.
Your emergency response plan should account for a variety of potential events, such as fires, explosions, structural failures, severe weather events, and more. It must also contain explicit procedures for threat detection, communication, evacuations, and first aid protocols.
And, with heat-related illnesses and injuries on the rise, heat exposure is an essential area to cover in your emergency response plan.
Incident investigation and continuous learning
The final key to a successful safety program is a commitment to incident investigation and continuous improvement.
These investigations identify root causes, such as underlying shortcomings or human risk factors. Doing so fosters an environment of blameless accountability, where errors are opportunities for prevention and learning rather than failures requiring punishment.
Construction firms can hone safety practices over time through incident reporting, investigation protocols, and feedback loops for corrective measures. Sharing findings transparently with your entire workforce prevents repeating the same mistakes.
Enhance Safety Management with Data-Driven Solutions
At Dodge Construction Network, we understand the importance of safety management in construction. That’s why we offer a comprehensive suite of digital tools designed to help safeguard your workforce and optimize project delivery.
The most comprehensive data platform in the industry, Dodge Construction Central, uses enhanced data models and intelligence to improve business insights. In turn, you’re empowered to make informed decisions about health and safety at your company.
Ready to unlock valuable data-driven insights to improve health and safety? Request a demo today.