Stagnating US Safety Systems

Comparing Safety Records

Do we have a "loose" safety system in the US? Yes. We allow workers to erect steel 30 feet above the ground without protection and ask electrical workers not to wear underclothes that melt if something goes wrong. And we then announce that the dead workers died in an accident.

We live in a country where, if the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does an investigation of someone falling through a skylight, they are prohibited from requiring that the skylight be replaced with one that will hold the weight of a person. The focus is on worker protection, not prevention.

After my presentation at a safety conference, one of the attendees remained afterward to speak to me. It was the regional administrator of OSHA. He asked that I not have such a negative view of OSHA and its accomplishments. He was apparently upset that I asked those in the audience to raise their hands if they had ever received a "good job!" letter after an OSHA inspection.

Building owners and constructors receive awards and throw lavish parties for a building that they have constructed even though workers died in its construction. Where is the embarrassment? The shame?

Consider the Levi's^® Stadium project. Two workers—Donald White and Edward Erving Lake II—were killed while building the Levi's Stadium in San Francisco, yet the site received a milestone award for its construction.

Adding to its growing list of firsts, Levi's^® Stadium has become the first stadium in the United States that is home to a professional football team to receive LEED Gold certification as new construction. The LEED rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

The Bay Area is a world leader in sustainable efforts, and achieving LEED Gold certification for Levi's Stadium is another example of our desire to showcase all that is special about the region," said San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York. "Our design team, partners and contractors have helped Levi's Stadium become the environmentally responsible building we had envisioned." ²

Ironically, the award was based on "improved environmental and human health performance."

We seem happy with a safety system here in the US that is okay, but not great. Unfortunately, our workers would not agree as they are dying at nearly the same rate year after year. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, reported 5,283 fatal work injuries in 2023, compared to 5,486 in 2022. ³

The following are just a few comparisons, large and small, to give the readers an idea of how poor our safety record is in the US.

Underground Utility Strikes

Let's start with how often we dig in the ground and hit buried utilities. The results are often monetary fines, but we also blow up neighborhoods and houses, killing workers and residents. The reason is a lack of care when we dig, tied to the frequency of when a utility is struck, which is the product of a loose system. Consider this comparison.

It is revealing to compare underground utility damage in the United States and Japan. The comparison reveals a startling difference in the annual number of incidents of underground utility damage during construction. In the U.S. there are between 400,000 and 800,000 incidents per year (roughly one or two every minute). For Japan the number of incidents in 2016 was 134. ⁴ [Emphasis added.]

We should be scared to dig in the earth, but we are not. We should care about the consequences of hitting someone's utility line, but that's not such a big thing. If you hit a utility line, there may be fines and the cost of repairs, but you go on. With the average cost of damage being around $4,000, it's not a big one. No harm, no foul. If someone is killed or property is damaged, that's what insurance is for.

What would drive change is some jail time for the owner of that equipment and the operator. Excavators who refuse to dig without the needed approvals should be rewarded by the authorities. The OSHA Whistleblower Act specifically provides for their protection.

Sidney Dekker, a leader in systemic safety, recognized that "there are interactively complex and tightly coupled systems that don't generate accidents, or that haven't yet." He refers to these systems as highly reliable. In my opinion, when your firm has such a system, you will not have incidents, and if you do, they will be of low severity. For example, you can't fall off a roof with a parapet, but you may trip over the conduit for the lights running across the roof. On conventional construction sites, parapets are not included due to the cost of their construction, so workers are expected to tie themselves to the building, so if they fall, it won't be too far.

Trains and Rail Crossings

A great example of a tightly coupled and safe system would be the bullet train. I've ridden on this Japanese bullet train, Shinkansen, and here is what stood out. On the platform, you could see the new crew waiting for the approaching train. Each wearing perfect uniforms, clutching the same satchel, and lined up looking in the direction of travel that the arriving train would head. As the train pulled into the station from behind them, not one person moved or watched as the train stopped. When the doors opened, the existing crew filed out in perfect order, and the new crew turned and stepped into the train. Order, consistency, and all perfectly orchestrated—that's one indicator of a solid safety system. Their record confirms the approach.

From the very first run of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen on October 1, 1964, until the present day, there has never been a single derailment or collision on the entire full-standard Shinkansen rail network resulting in a passenger fatality. This safety record stands testament to the many safety systems developed and introduced for Japan's "bullet trains." ⁵

Japan ties in some simple and practical engineering that we could appreciate here in the US. As the trains travel, they are well separated. Trains striking each other is almost impossible. When they are passing in opposite directions, even at a distance, they slow down. The potential for two trains hitting head-on is about zero and there has never been a collision in the system's history.

It's not just the bullet trains that are safe; it's their countrywide train systems. Look at their record because it's incredible. In the last 2 years, they have not had a single collision. In the US, we had over 4,000 collisions that killed about 500 people a year.

Here in the US, our train systems are a bit looser and more deadly. We are just about done with summer, and already 103 people have been killed just at US rail crossings. Last year in Japan, there were 3 people injured. You could say we have a killer system.

Traffic Fatalities

In the 1970s in the Netherlands, there was a public outcry as traffic fatalities grew as families were killed. The residents started to push back, and Stop de Kindermoord (or "Stop the Child Murder") demonstrations started.

So, the government took a look at the statistics and asked how many deaths were acceptable? The answer was their redesign of highway systems that reduced traffic fatalities by 70 percent. The Netherlands acknowledged that early road designs were based on moving cars quickly, not on protecting those walking, cycling, or driving.

They posted specific speed limits and then designed those speeds for specific roadway types so it would be harder and unreasonable to go faster. Some roads were also designed to drive faster on.

To slow speeds, they introduced soft obstacles. We call that "traffic quieting" here in the US, commonly used on service roads and streets in developments. The road is divided, and trees and greenery are planted on these islands. It just feels wrong to drive fast.

They also changed their roadway design to move hard things like bridges and concrete pylons away from the road. Allowances were made for the tired, aged, distracted, and tipsy driver.

In one example, there had been scores of fatalities along a highway with no divider, so cable rails were installed. There continued to be accidents, and many called the idea a failure. What resulted were broken cars, which held living people. As a result, the traffic fatality rate in countries like the Netherlands is already 70 percent lower than it is in the US. In the US, traffic fatalities are higher than a decade ago. In 2024, 39,345 people were killed. ⁶ That's the figure for one year. We lost that many soldiers (40,934) during the entire Vietnam War.

In a study comparing the US and the Netherlands, the results reminded me of how we view workers here in the US and our corporate resistance to accident prevention. We continually blame the worker for an incident, and we move on until the next worker is hurt. It was the system the worker was asked or designed to work in that got them the bruises and stitches. They did not decide to get hurt; the system did. Below is a quote from a study that rings so true to construction safety.

The bottom line from our research is that in the U.S. we still are fixated on the idea that it is largely the responsibility of the users—be it pedestrians, cyclists, or operators of vehicles—to keep themselves safe. We conveniently ignore the fact that it is the environment that we have built that has proven to be so deadly for people, even when they exercise due caution. ⁷ [Emphasis added.]

Conclusion

So, these are my thoughts on our dismal record on safety here in the US and the idea of resetting our safety system to something better by looking at the success of other countries. We could learn a lot by copying those who got it right, and we need to do much better and catch up with those countries that shake their heads when they see our safety statistics.