The construction industry is considered one of the most challenging sectors to work in. Handling heavy equipment and other every-second operational activities poses an enormous risk. The unwanted scenario has occurred due to a few mistakes and fatal and non-fatal injuries are been recorded. Although there are institutions that solely work on safety, they reduce the death rates in the industry. Yet field rates have remained stagnant for years.
However, the industry still does not accept reality and overlooked the most important factor. The industry claims that there are very few incidents that happened in the past decade, and further they added the number is acceptable since it is a tough job.
The sector’s fatality rate remains relatively constant at nearly 10 fatalities per 100,000 full-time workers from earth movers equipment. To make positive changes, safety managers and directors have begun to seek other means of measuring safety success. They argue that existing and accepted measurements have some problems.
This troubling statistic has spurred some forward-thinking contractors to reconsider traditional approaches to job site safety metrics, shifting focus from tracking every minor injury to preventing the severe, life-threatening hazards – the “stuff that can kill you.”
Adapting the New Approach
The strict rules and regulations by institutions such as OSHA prevent such incidents and make sure that everyone feels safe around construction sites. Nonetheless, a number of companies still do not follow the safety regulations and are hesitant to adopt the new approaches. There are not only the machines on the field that are risky for workers but also a lot of stuff that potential to kill a worker.
The era we live in is technologically advanced and there are numerous software and tools that assist the workers. There are new methods by adapting them the workers can reduce the risk of any hazard. Advanced software has the ability to identify the risk and help mitigate it before it turns into an accident.
Why Standard Metrics Aren’t Enough
Until recently, the Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) has been used for years by contractors as an indicator of safety. Developed by OSHA and utilized for insurance rating purposes. Though it measures the rate of injury occurrence, this is almost comprehensive since it does not distinguish between the number of small and severe injuries.
According to the Construction Safety Research Alliance (CSRA) 2020 report, there is no correlation between TRIR rates and fatality. This actually paints the whole picture of how inadequate TRIR and other such indicators are in portraying the real risks inherent in construction activity.
As a prevention of on-site danger, Phil Clarke, the Director of Safety and Risk Management for KS Industries says that TRIR fails to give a clear perspective. A person can have a hand closed in the door or a person can get into a fight and end up needing stitches and that is considered an incident. A different worker can have a severe incident with the freight trains, but if they were not hurt then it is not considered at all.
Understanding these imperfections, organizations have sought another measurement model that would involve the identification of major risks and the exclusion of the latter.
Empowering Workers to Recognize Deadly Hazards
Educating its employees and trading partners is a key feature of Sundt’s Stuff That Can Kill You (STCKY) initiative. Sundt hopes to create a culture where all employees have the capacity to intervene and handle possibly fatal circumstances without fear of retaliation or delay by emphasizing the significance of proactively addressing these hazardous dangers. This proactive approach guarantees that employees are aware of the dangers posed by the fatal hazards and are able to recognize circumstances in which their lives may be in danger.
Safety is emphasized as a shared and individual responsibility. Additionally, Sundt’s approach encourages employees to critically examine every action they perform on the job and consider if the precautions are actually adequate to protect them. By emphasizing worker involvement for their own security, this move from passive compliance to active safety awareness signifies a significant shift in construction safety culture.
A Shift Toward Meaningful Safety Data
Results from Sundt’s shift to “Stuff That Can Kill You” seem encouraging thus far. Sundt’s teams are armed with practical insights that confront serious risks head-on by focusing efforts on preventing the most life-threatening dangers. A more thorough understanding of job site safety is offered by this departure from conventional safety criteria, which also guarantees that company-wide goals are based on actual effects rather than merely checking boxes.
In a broader perspective, this concept is in tandem with the other safety heads in the construction industry most of who have realized the downside of relying on near-misses. Instead, they are pushing for key performance indicators that accurately depict the construction sector as one that involves people’s lives and well-being. It’s often said that if more organizations embrace such principles, there may be a gradual decrease in the fatality rate of the industry.
A New Vision for Safety
Although achieving zero incidents may still be the ultimate aim, executives like Levin are aware that this goal calls for a more targeted and sophisticated approach to safety. Others in the business may learn a lot from the change toward emphasizing lethal dangers like those in the STCKY program. A new safety paradigm that goes beyond compliance to actually save lives is being advanced by Sundt by promoting openness, empowering employees, and focusing on the most critical dangers.
According to this new paradigm, safety involves not only preventing occurrences that can be documented but also identifying and addressing the underlying causes of serious hazards. This emphasis on life-threatening risks is an important step forward for construction businesses dedicated to worker safety, pushing the sector to overcome static mortality rates and make considerable progress toward a safer future for all.
