We kill three people every day in the construction industry. It’s an alarming statistic, especially given the exhaustive training, rigorous risk-management policies and tough laws that penalize contractors for safety infractions, injuries and jobsite perils. But there is another way to reduce this deadly statistic: create personal safety records for individual workers as an incentive for them to assume responsibility for safety.
Recently, an employee made a decision to disregard a company’s 6-ft 100% fall-protection policy and disconnected his lanyard to climb across some formwork that was being stripped. He fell 14 ft and severely injured his knee. This worker had been trained in fall protection three times; his most recent training was just three weeks prior to the incident. The incident will cost the company over $130,000 in workers’ compensation claim costs alone, plus the expenses associated with managing lost productivity on the site, meeting with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the client, tracking and administering the claim, not to mention the negative publicity that resulted from the accident.