Construction Industry Falling Short in Worker Safety

Inexperienced Workers Are More Prone to Falls on Jobsites

Nationwide's claims data indicates construction workers with less than 2 years of experience with a company account for over half (53 percent) of all reported construction fall claims since 2020. Construction businesses have a responsibility to ensure all workers, and especially those new to their company, are adequately trained and equipped with the proper safety gear and knowledge to prevent falls. Protecting the lives of the workforce and ensuring their well-being on the job should be handled with the utmost importance.

The human cost of falls on jobsites is not the only significant financial burden for companies. Nationwide's data reveals that the average workers compensation claim cost in 2022 rose by 15 percent over 2021 across all industries. These increased costs are driven by a variety of factors, including rising healthcare costs and the perilous nature of construction. Further, falls can also negatively impact a company's insurance premiums and reputation.

Labor shortages continue to pressure workers to focus on speed over safety, but ensuring workers make it home to their families at the end of the day is paramount. It's critical that organizations commit to worker safety and instill a program and a work culture that prioritizes fall protection strategies.

Implementing Fall Protection Strategies

To combat fall-related injuries and fatalities, a collaborative effort among all levels of business is essential to implement comprehensive fall protection strategies. These strategies help identify root causes of falls and effectively address these issues moving forward.

Nationwide has developed a fall protection guide to help construction businesses tackle the underlying sources of falls and assist with reducing falls in the workplace. This guide is designed to help businesses develop best practices for fall protection, outline critical roles and responsibilities, and provide guidance on training requirements.

Nationwide's Guide at a Glance: Roles and Responsibilities

Employers have the primary responsibility for handling fall exposures and facilitating appropriate training and procedures. However, a successful fall protection program involves everyone within the organization play a part, which underscores the importance of having clear roles and responsibilities. All workers who could be exposed to potential fall hazards must understand the critical nature of these hazards, understand how to recognize hazards, and know procedures or steps to take to minimize these hazards.

Any successful safety program starts with the ownership's commitment to a safe workplace for all its employees and implementing comprehensive fall protection strategies.

The responsibility of ensuring each employee is provided the required training, ensuring safety policies are consistently enforced, assessing when retraining is needed, fielding suggestions to improve safety, and ensuring proper safety and personal protection gear are available falls on the construction manager.

Supervisors are accountable for enforcing the safety policies, jobsite supervision, training of employees, implementation of safe work practices, and identification and correction of hazardous conditions.

Organizations should have a safety committee whose primary objective is to identify and eliminate hazards. The committee is comprised of representatives from a variety of positions who bring different perspectives on work practices and areas of improvement.

Most importantly, the safety program's ultimate success is dependent on employee involvement and adherence to guidelines, policies, and best practices. All employees are responsible for recognizing and immediately reporting hazards to their supervisors or safety committee, consistently following safe work practices, and using necessary personal protective and fall protection equipment.

Safety Conscious Culture

To avoid falls and mitigate risks of incidents, organizations must emphasize safety through all aspects of their operations. This includes providing clear communication on everyone's roles and responsibilities, supplying workers with proper training and equipment, conducting regular safety inspections, and implementing safety protocols and procedures that adhere to regulatory requirements.

By instilling a culture centralized around worker safety and fall mitigation strategies, we can positively affect change and reduce the number of incidents throughout the industry.