What is Construction Safety?
Construction safety is a principle adhered to and enforced by construction safety managers. It is the result of safe equipment usage, worker protection from hazards, regular site inspections and risk assessments. A key component of construction safety is compliance with the safety and health regulations of the region.
Importance of Construction Safety
While the initial reason for improving construction safety may be to comply with workplace safety and health regulations, there are many other benefits to prioritizing construction safety, such as lessening the number of safety hazards and incidents. This is vital because safety hazards and incidents weaken the companys reputation among industry professionals and regulatory agencies and can incur huge financial costs for the company.
In the United States, for nearly all types of OSHA violations, the maximum penalty is $13,653 per violation. For a willful or repeated OSHA violation, the maximum penalty is over ten times greater with $136,532 per violation. Meanwhile, incidents that result in injuries or illnesses have both direct and indirect costs. According to OSHA, its been estimated that employers pay almost $1 billion per week for direct workers compensation costs alone.
Other direct costs of incidents resulting in injuries or illnesses are medical expenses and costs for legal services, while indirect costs can include training replacement or substitute workers, repairs of damaged equipment or property, lost productivity, and lower worker morale.
Another benefit of prioritizing construction safety is that it helps strengthen the trust between workers, construction safety managers, and company executives. This higher level of trust leads to better communication across the company, resulting in fewer misunderstandings and clashes. Construction safety programs can also increase worker productivity and efficiency. Workers are more equipped to do their jobs effectively and safely when they are given adequate training and protection by the company. And among the best occasions to do this is during construction site induction.
Create your own Construction Safety Inspection checklist
Improve Construction Safety with SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) as Construction Site Inspection App
SafetyCulture is a construction site inspection app known for its emphasis on both safety and compliance. Awarded as the Best SaaS Product for Health & Safety, SafetyCulture was also featured in Capterras list of the Best Compliance Software. Using SafetyCulture as a construction site inspection app, construction safety managers can do the following:
- Create customized inspection templates
- Schedule one-off or recurring inspections
- Empower workers to raise issues immediately
- Mitigate safety risks using corrective actions
- View all inspection data in analytics
SafetyCulture Content Team
