Transcript Management/Companies

RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES
CONSTRUCTION WORKER
HEALTH PROTECTION IS LINKED
TO SPECIFIC SAFETY
MANAGEMENT ELEMENTS
The University of Tennessee
UT Safety Center
Dr. Susan Smith
Dr. Tyler Kress
Dr. Gregory Petty
Worker Health Protection is
linked to the elements of:
Management Commitment
 Employee Involvement
 Work-site Analysis
 Hazard Prevention & Control
 Safety Training

– US Department of Labor, 1989
Who Wins?

Employees
– Reduced number and severity of accidents affects
personal and family quality of living

Management/Companies
– Reduced costs results in increased profits and greater
competitiveness

Government
– Public health is affected by decreased load on
government health and rehabilitation programs
Safety Management Elements
Few data based studies support safety
management elements from reduced costs
and injuries.
 Management/Companies resist spending
money on safety management elements
because there is little evidence to support
this expense.

Who Loses?

Short term
– Management/Companies will need to invest
money “up front” to hire safety managers
– Management/Companies must spend money
to join and attend professional conferences
– Management/Companies must spend money
and provide the time for staff and
management to attend safety training

Long term – see “Who Wins?” section
above
Who Cares?
This study indicates that safety training
and use of safety managers reduces costs
and injuries in the hazardous construction
industry.
 More research is needed to further
support this position

Safety Practices Survey
Questionnaires were sent to 305
construction companies in Tennessee
 89 of 305 (29%) responded
 Surveys focused on rates and costs of
injuries and safety practices followed by
the company

Determination of Costs of Injuries

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To fairly determine costs, a factor of workers
compensation cost the Experience
Modification Rate (EMR) was utilized in this
study
Companies with lower than average losses are
assigned a EMR of less than 1.0, while
companies with higher than average losses are
assigned an EMR of greater than 1.0.
Survey responses were grouped into two
categories
1. High Cost/High Injury Rates (EMR >1.0)
2. Low Cost/Low Injury Rates (EMR <1.0)
Findings

Companies with Low Cost/Low Injury
Rates (EMR <1.0) demonstrated a
significant relationship with:
– Employed full time safety manager
(p=0.015)
– Use of pre-job brief (p=0.013)
– Written drug/alcohol programs (p=0.014)
– Attendance at AGC conferences (p=0.027)
Findings

Low Cost/Low Injury Rates (EMR <1.0)
were found for larger Construction
Companies with 51 or more employees
(p=0.008) that:
– performed drug testing (p=0.015)
– participated in AGC professional conferences
(p=0.011
Findings

Low Cost/Low Injury Rates (EMR <1.0) for
those Construction Companies with a fulltime Safety Manager that:
– presented pre-job briefs (p=0.009)
– had written drug/alcohol program (p=0.018)
– performed drug testing (p=0.002)
– tracked injury costs (p=0.023)
– performed weekly safety inspections
(p=0.003)
Findings

Companies that reported written & clearly
defined safety responsibilities had:
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drug/alcohol prevention programs (p<0.001)
emergency preparedness programs (p<0.001)
company safety policy (p=0.012)
tracked injury costs (p=0.001)
tracked first aid cases (p=0.01)
tracked near misses (p=0.005)
conducted safety training (p=0.039)
conducted safety inspections (p=0.001)
had established safety committees (p=0.048)
Conclusions
Implementation of sound safety
programs has led to reductions in
fatalities & injuries
 Study found that companies with lower
EMR reported high number of key
safety management practices
 More studies are needed that
quantitatively identifies effective safety
program elements
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Conclusions
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(continued)
Increasing Worker Health Protection is
affected by the following key safety
management practices:
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Hiring a full-time safety manager
Presenting pre-job briefs
Implementing drug/alcohol programs
Attending safety conferences
Tracking injuries
Conducting safety inspections
Clearly defining safety roles
Reporting of the Safety Manager to Executive
Management & attending management meetings
Conclusions
(continued)
Costs of construction fatalities & serious
injuries include both human suffering and
economic losses
 Construction companies can improve
safety image of the industry and positively
impact the bottom-line by implementing
sound safety management practices
 Investment in safety pays dividends in
both human and economic terms
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