Construction Accidents
Safety Data: Noon Presents the Hour of Greatest Danger
New AGC report provides a revised view of the most potentially lethal time of day
Unlike previous research into construction fatalities, a new review of three years of Labor Dept. data found that most occur between 10 am and 3 pm, with a peak at noon.
Conducted for the Associated General Contractors by a team at Virginia Tech, the researchers parsed fatality reports from 2010 to 2012.
The study comes at a time of rising concern about the persistence of fatalities despite decades in which construction, along with other industries, has improved its safety record. According to the report, this study of fatalities drills down more deeply into the details of the individual accidents and their contexts.
Previous studies had found that the hours of 9 am to 1 pm were the deadliest at construction jobsites. Prior studies also found that the rate of fatalities decreased at noon.
How should employers make use of the information?
Employers could distribute bulletins to workers pointing out the new findings, the study report suggests. Employers could also consider scheduling additional toolbox talks or safety meetings around noon, especially on Wednesday or Thursday, when the report found that fatalities also crest.
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