15.1 Introduction

Construction contractors today are, for the most part, mindful in every way of their duty morally and legally, to provide for the safety and health of their employees. Because construction sites are fraught with hazards of all kinds, it is imperative for management and craft people alike, to be mindful of safety at all times. Safety consciousness, policies, practices, and mind-sets cannot be reinforced too often, nor too emphatically.

Virtually all construction companies are required to comply with laws regarding safety in the workplace, and all companies have adopted safety policies, and training, and behavior-based programs. It is not the intent of this chapter to provide a comprehensive summary of all aspects of safety requirements and policies and procedures for all construction contracting companies. Rather, some of the key features of the laws regarding safety will be recounted here. Additionally, some of the important aspects of safety policies and procedures for construction companies, and some of the key elements of safety planning and safety practice important in the management of construction projects will be addressed here.

15.2 The Cost of Construction Accidents

Construction, by its very nature, is permeated with hazards and risk of all kinds, and the construction industry has historically experienced very high rates of deaths and disabling injuries. Tragically, still today, a number of construction workers are injured and some die each year in the United States as the result of work-related injuries on construction sites. The toll from construction accidents ranks the construction industry very high every year with regard to both the incidence rate and severity of accidents as compared to other industries. The fatality rate of construction workers is among the highest of all American industries. The cost of these accidents in the construction industry is high, in terms of both dollar cost and human suffering. Job accidents impose on this industry a tremendous burden of needless and avoidable expense, as well as a terrible toll, physical and emotional, on all of those who are directly impacted.

But the consequences of construction accidents are not expressible in terms of dollars alone. Money loses much of its significance when bodily injury and death are involved. Nevertheless, the financial consequences of accidents are an important matter to the construction industry and for the individual contractor.

The construction industry bears a burden of approximately $2 billion per year in direct cost resulting from largely avoidable job accidents resulting in injury and death. Direct costs of accidents are those attributable to emergency medical services, emergency room and hospital and medical care, subsistence payments, rehabilitation, and other benefits that are provided by worker's compensation insurance.

In addition, construction accidents also involve an additional component of substantial costs that are either not insurable or that are not provided for by the usual construction insurance coverage. These are described as the “hidden costs” or “indirect costs” of accidents. These costs are enormous, and by various estimates range from four to as much as twenty times greater than the direct costs. Examples of uninsured indirect costs are first aid expenses, disruption of job site activities, time spent by management workers and craft workers in looking after the injured, damage or destruction of materials, cleanup and repair costs, idle machine time, unproductive labor time, lowered employee morale, spoiled work, equipment damage, schedule disruptions, loss of trained manpower, work slowdowns, wages paid to injured workers, adverse publicity, administrative and legal expenses, and other expensive side effects.

Another common source of cost to the contractor stemming from job accidents is third-party lawsuits by injured workers of another employer. For example, the injured employee of a subcontractor often sues the project owner, the general contractor, or another subcontractor because worker's compensation laws do not normally allow an injured worker to sue his direct employer (see Chapter 8).

15.3 Safety Legislation

The advent of the industrial revolution in the United States was marked by a simultaneous proliferation of unsafe working conditions in a number of industries, including the construction industry. Although employers had certain common-law duties toward their employees, such as to provide a safe place to work, the safeguards to health and safety that are taken for granted today were not customary at that time. As a matter of fact, there was no general acceptance of the notion that employers should be concerned with the welfare and safety of employees while they were on the job. Certainly, no concerted effort was made to render working conditions less hazardous. It was believed by management that most work accidents were caused by the carelessness of the employees themselves and that it was the worker's responsibility to avoid accidents. However, the grim loss of life, limb, and livelihood aroused the public conscience, and the latter half of the nineteenth century witnessed a gradual change in the general attitude toward work safety.

The primary responsibility for statutory job safety requirements in the United States has traditionally rested with the state governments. In 1867, Massachusetts took the first legal step toward remedying the dangerous working conditions that were characteristic of the time. During the following years, many other states enacted laws pertaining to working conditions for workers in factories, in mines, operating machinery, inspecting and operating steam boilers and elevators, and those engaged in fire protection. All states have now enacted some form of legislation that provides general rule-making authority to designated state agencies in the areas of occupational health and safety.

15.4 State Safety Codes

Details of safety codes vary considerably from one state to another, but there is a trend toward greater uniformity in the provisions of the regulations through adoption of the standards developed by such bodies as the American National Standards Institute. Although some states have established comprehensive safety standards applicable to all types of employment, the tendency has been to develop special codes for particular industries, operations, or hazards.

Some specific hazards are regulated in a large majority of the states. Codes now relate to construction, as well as to cranes and derricks, elevators, boilers, mechanical systems, power transmission towers, fire protection, floors and stairways, illumination, sanitation, ventilation, electrical hazards, explosives, ladders, spray painting, welding, and other areas of potential danger. All states require the provision of first aid and protective equipment in places of employment. State safety codes make the employer and its supervisory personnel responsible for compliance with the code, and for suitable safety instruction to the worker. In turn, the employee is required to make use of safeguards provided for his protection and to conduct his work in conformance with the established safety rules.

Each state industrial commission or labor department has jurisdiction over every type of employment and place of employment within its state, and is authorized to enforce and administer established codes and rules pertaining to the safety and protection of workers. The commission is vested with full power and authority to establish and enforce necessary and reasonable rules and regulations for the purpose of implementing the state law. In general, whenever the commission finds that any type of employment or place of employment is not safe, or that employees are not being adequately protected, it is empowered to order the employer to rectify the situation and to furnish safety devices and other safeguards reasonably required. Violation of a state safety code is punishable by fines and/or imprisonment as provided by the applicable statute. As discussed in the next section, a number of federal statutes have now been adopted which are supplementary to or are preemptive over state law in matters of health and safety in certain employments, unless the state has adopted health and safety requirements that meet or exceed federal standards.

15.5 Federal Health and Safety Acts

Two federal laws have been enacted that impose safety standards on the construction industry. These are the Construction Safety Act of 1969 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970. The Construction Safety Act of 1969 was written to apply to construction projects financed in whole or in part by federal funds. It prohibits contractors from requiring tradesmen to work under conditions that are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous, as determined under standards issued by the secretary of labor. Before the provisions of this act could be effectively implemented, however, the federal government adopted OSHA in 1970. This legislation applies to employers in interstate commerce, including those in construction. The safety regulations that were promulgated for the Construction Safety Act were included within the construction regulations for OSHA. The OSHA provisions pertain to virtually all construction in the United States, both public and private. Some of the important provisions and details of this legislation are further discussed in the following sections.

15.6 The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)

Under OSHA, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace. OSHA's mission is to assure safe and healthful workplaces by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. Employers must comply with all applicable OSHA standards. Employers must also comply with the General Duty Clause of OSHA, which requires employers to keep their workplace free of serious recognized hazards.

OSHA established the first nationwide program for job safety and health by directing the secretary of labor to establish safety and health standards for all industry. Every employer in interstate commerce has a twofold obligation to provide employment and a place of employment that is free of recognized health and safety hazards, and to comply with OSHA standards. OSHA also authorized the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, also referred to as OSHA, to administer and enforce the act.

OSHA has established the Office of Construction Services which publishes protocols and standards intended to respond more quickly and more effectively to the unique hazards and unusual situations in construction. The specialized staff of this office stays abreast of new construction methods, processes, and operations, and bring the expertise of this office into the standard-setting and compliance activities of OSHA. This affords OSHA a higher concentration on construction problems, and enhances protection for those in the industry. OSHA regulations and references for the construction industry are published as the “Construction Safety and Health Regulations” in the Federal Register, and are published as “29 CFR Part 1926 Safety and Health Regulations for Construction.” Copies of this document are available from OSHA offices, as well as from book vendors, and construction contractor professional associations.

In addition to providing a safe workplace and complying with all of the safety standards and provisions of the law, OSHA also requires employers to keep and preserve stipulated records of recordable occupational injuries and illnesses. Any fatality or any accident that hospitalizes three or more employees must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours. OSHA records provide management with valuable information concerning the efficacy of the company safety program. For example, OSHA requires that contractors who have more than 10 employees complete and maintain “The Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses” (Form 300). This document is used to classify work-related injuries and illnesses and to note the extent and severity of each case. This log must be maintained at each of the contractor's offices, and construction sites. The contractor is required to inform all employees that the log exists, and to make it available for their examination and review.

Contractors are required to report on Form 300, work-related injuries and illnesses that result in:

• Death
• Loss of consciousness
• Days away from work
• Restricted work activity or job transfer
• Medical treatment beyond first aid

Additionally, the contractor is required to record work-related injuries and illnesses that are defined in the Act as significant, that is, diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, as well as:

• Any work-related case involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum.
• Any needle stick injury or cut from an object that is contaminated with another person's blood or other potentially infectious material.
• Any case requiring an employee to be medically removed under the requirements of an OSHA health standard.
• A tuberculosis infection as evidenced by a positive skin test or diagnosed by a licensed physician or other licensed health care professional after exposure to a known case of active tuberculosis.
• An employee's hearing test (audiogram) reveals that the employee has experienced a standard threshold shift (STS) in hearing in one or both ears (averaged at 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 Hz) and the employee's total hearing level is 25 decibels (dB) or more above audiometric zero (also averaged at 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 Hz) in the same ear(s) as the STS.

An injury or illness is considered to be work related if an event or an exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to the condition or aggravated a pre-existing condition.

When an incident occurs, the contractor uses Form 300 to record specific details about what happened and how it happened, and keeps all of these forms at each office and job site location. A separate form, Form 300A, “The Summary,” is prepared once each year to recapitulate the information in the contractor's Form 300s. At the end of the year the summary must be posted in a visible location so that all employees are aware of the injuries and illnesses that are occurring in their workplace. This summary must be posted by February 1 of the year following the year covered by the form, and must remain posted until April 30 of that year. The log and summary must be kept on record for five years following the year to which they pertain.

OSHA established the position of Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health to take charge of standards and enforcement. Also established was a National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health to assist with the devising and establishing of standards. An independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, was created to enforce the standards and to hear appeals. The commission is assisted by an organization of trial examiners and supporting staff similar to the system used by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The commission's findings can be appealed to the courts.

15.7 Site Inspections by OSHA

Under OSHA as originally enacted, compliance officers were authorized to conduct unannounced site inspections to see whether employers were complying with safety standards. In the event of such a surprise visit, employers were required to admit the inspectors to their places of business. This was changed in 1978 by a U.S. Supreme Court decision to the effect that such visits are unconstitutional because they violate the prohibition against unreasonable search. Following this ruling, inspections are still made, but admission of the OSHA inspector must be voluntary with the employer, or the compliance officer must first obtain a search warrant. However, warrants are available as long as the inspection is conducted as part of OSHA's general administrative plan for enforcement of the act. Almost one half of all OSHA site visits are on construction projects.

An employer representative and an employee representative have the right to accompany the compliance officer during his rounds of the premises. When a violation exists, a citation is issued by the OSHA area director describing the nature of the violation, the amount of any civil penalty imposed, and setting a reasonable time in which to correct the situation. The employer is required to post at the work site, records of citations and notices of employees' rights. The employer has 15 working days in which to contest a citation. The employer has the option to request an informal hearing with the area director prior to contesting the citation. If a citation is formally contested, the review commission in the regional office holds a formal hearing. Enforcement of the commission's orders or review of its decision is submitted to the area director. Then, if the contractor is not satisfied, he can file with the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. If a citation is not contested, it becomes final.

Employees or their representatives can demand inspections of their employers' premises by making complaints directly to the Labor Department in writing. If it is determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe a violation or danger exists, a special inspection is made as soon as possible. Also, during the course of an inspection, any employee or employee representative can notify the compliance officer of any violations that may exist. The act provides that employees may not be discharged or discriminated against in any way for filing safety and health complaints or otherwise exercising their rights under the act. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employees have the right to refuse to perform tasks they reasonably believe could result in serious injury or death and cannot be discharged, provided the worker attempted and failed to have the hazard corrected. These provisions of the act are commonly referred to as “whistle-blower” provisions.

If imminent danger to safety or health is noted, the compliance officer is required to promptly notify the employer, the employees, and the secretary of labor. If the imminent danger is not eliminated, the secretary of labor is required to seek a temporary injunction in a federal district court to shut down that part of the operation where danger exists.

15.8 Penalties under OSHA

OSHA provides for mandatory civil penalties against employers of fines for each serious violation, and for optional penalties of up to $7,000 for each nonserious violation. Penalties of up to $7,000 per day may be imposed for failure to correct violations within the proposed time period. Any employer who willfully or repeatedly violates the act may be assessed penalties of up to $70,000 for each such violation.

Criminal penalties are also provided for in the OSHA legislation. Any willful violation resulting in the death of an employee is punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by imprisonment of not more than six months, or by both. Conviction of an employer after a first conviction doubles these maximum penalties. The law requires workers to observe applicable health and safety rules, but provides no penalties for their failure to comply. Employers are liable under OSHA for all acts of employees except when the employer did not and could not, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, know of the presence of the violation. Thus, it is the contractor's responsibility to ensure workers' compliance with the OSHA legislation.

It is worthy of note that if a construction manager is controlling or directing the work on a project, he can be held liable for OSHA violations. This is true even when the CM performs no actual work, has no direct contracts with trade contractors, and the actual violation was caused by employees of trade contractors.

For many years, OSHA has had an onsite consultation program that helps construction firms to abate workplace hazards. This is a free onsite consultation service to permit contractors to identify job hazards without risking citations or penalties if unsafe conditions discovered are corrected promptly. The consultants also assist these employers in designing company health and safety programs.

OSHA permits the U.S. Department of Labor to transfer enforcement of employment safety requirements to any state that demonstrates its ability to administer the provisions of the law at least as effectively as the federal government. These are referred to as “state programs.” A number of states have such programs in effect, and half of the funding for these programs is provided by OSHA. OSHA requires that all state standards be at least as rigorous as OSHA standards. In states that have state programs, job site inspections are conducted by state inspectors and violations are processed by a state agency.

15.9 OSHA Hazard Communication Standard

This Occupational Safety and Health Administration Hazard Communication Standard (HAZCOM) became effective for the construction industry in 1988, and is intended to address comprehensively the issue of classifying the potential hazards of chemicals, and communicating information concerning hazards and appropriate protective measures to employees, and to preempt any legislative or regulatory enactments of a state, or political subdivision of a state, pertaining to this subject. Classifying the potential hazards of chemicals and communicating information concerning hazards and appropriate protective measures to employees may include, for example, but is not limited to, provisions for: developing and maintaining a written hazard communication program for the workplace, including lists of hazardous chemicals present; labeling of containers of chemicals in the workplace, as well as of containers of chemicals being shipped to other workplaces; preparation and distribution of safety data sheets to employees and downstream employers; and development and implementation of employee training programs regarding hazards of chemicals and protective measures. Under Section 18 of the act, no state or political subdivision of a state may adopt or enforce any requirement relating to the issue addressed by this federal standard, except pursuant to a federally approved state plan.

The objective of HAZCOM is to inform workers in American industry about the chemical hazards to which they are exposed during the performance of their job duties. The law makes the employer responsible for communicating this information to his employees. In order to do this, the employer must perform four duties:

• Written plan. All workplaces where employees are exposed to hazardous chemicals must have a written plan that describes how the standard will be implemented in that facility.
• Labels. All containers of hazardous chemicals must be labeled, tagged, or marked with the identity of the material and appropriate hazard warnings.
• Safety data sheets (SDSs). Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to obtain or develop an SDS for each hazardous chemical they produce or import. Distributors are responsible for ensuring that their customers are provided a copy of these SDSs. Employers must have an SDS for each hazardous chemical they use.
• Training. Each employee who may be exposed to hazardous chemicals when working must be provided information and trained prior to initial assignment to work with a hazardous chemical, and whenever the hazard changes.

An effective HAZCOM program depends on the credibility of management's involvement in the program; inclusion of employees in safety and health decisions; rigorous work site analysis to identify hazards and potential hazards, including those which could result from a change in work site conditions or practices; stringent prevention and control measures; and thorough training. It addresses hazards whether or not they are regulated by government standards.

15.10 Multiemployer Work Sites

Although OSHA requires that each employer provide his employees with employment and a place of employment that is free from recognized hazards, the matter of duty and responsibility under the act can become very involved on a multiemployer site such as a construction project. On a workplace of this type, employees of different employers are subjected to common hazards that exist at the site, and such hazards are often created by different employers. Who is responsible for safety violations under these circumstances has been a confused issue for some time.

To properly assign culpability for an infraction of the standards on multiemployer work sites, current OSHA policy establishes four categories of employers on such sites:

• Creating employer. The employer who actually creates the hazard.
• Exposing employer. The employer whose employees are exposed to hazards.
• Correcting employer. The employer who has the responsibility for actually correcting the hazard.
• Controlling employer. The employer who is responsible, by contract or through actual practice, for safety and health conditions on the work site, that is, the employer who has the authority for ensuring that the hazardous condition is corrected.

It should be noted that a contractor (employer) may fall into more than one of these categories with regard to a specific occurrence. Additionally, more than one contractor may be issued an OSHA citation with regard to a certain occurrence.

An example may serve to illustrate. A masonry subcontractor erects a scaffold in such a way that one or more OSHA standards are violated. The employees of the masonry subcontractor utilize the scaffold for the performance of their work. With the consent of the masonry subcontractor, workers employed by the general contractor on the project also use the scaffold. When OSHA inspects the site, the first subcontractor, the masonry subcontractor, would be found to be the creating employer, and would be subject to citation. Both the masonry subcontractor and the general contractor would be found to be exposing contractors, because their employees were exposed to the hazards. The masonry subcontractor would be the correcting contractor. The general contractor would be found to be the controlling contractor. OSHA citations would be issued to both the masonry subcontractor and to the general contractor, with both receiving more than one citation for their roles as defined above.

OSHA policy also provides that one of the employers on a multiemployer site may be excused from citation, or may be found to hold a lesser degree of responsibility, if it can meet any of a number of conditions set forth in OSHA standards for the purpose. If all employers at the site meet the conditions for being excused, the employer best able to have corrected the hazard or to ensure its correction is issued the citation. The controlling employer can be cited even though no employees of that employer were exposed to the condition.

A prime contractor or a subcontractor cannot delegate or contract away its responsibility under the act. A general contractor can however, include a clause in its subcontracts requiring the subcontractor to reimburse the general contractor for any losses sustained by reason of the subcontractor's failure to abide by safety regulations or general duty of care in conducting its activities at the job site. To assure that safety and health requirements are met, the general contractor is well advised to see that its subcontract agreements require scrupulous adherence to safety and health regulations on the part of the subcontractors.

15.11 Contract Safety Requirements

Construction contracts routinely contain provisions requiring the prime contractor to conform to all applicable laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations that pertain to project safety. Prime contractors, in turn, extend this responsibility to the subcontractors through specific wording to this effect in the subcontractor agreements. Contracts with some public agencies require that the contractor conform with the requirements of the safety code of that particular agency. These standards constitute a contractual obligation with which the contractor must comply or be in breach of contract. Many state highway departments include a safety code in their construction contracts. Some federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and others use construction contracts that include health and safety standards in their provisions.

Although construction projects for these agencies are not exempted from OSHA, this act provides that these agencies may continue to use their own safety codes and enforce them. Contractors on such projects are required to observe OSHA standards as well as those contractual requirements that OSHA does not cover, or that are more stringent than those of OSHA.

Some private, as well as some public, owners play an active role in ensuring that the contractor implement and enforce a rigorous safety program on the project site during the construction process. Frequently today, owners require contractors to furnish information concerning their existing company safety programs, and sometimes copies of their safety policies and programs, as prequalifying elements before being allowed to bid. Additionally, owners frequently require contractors to disclose their safety records, and/or their experience modifier ratings (see Chapter 8) before being allowed to bid. The bidding documents typically include safety specifications, and the owner works closely with the contractor on safety matters during the contract period.

Labor agreements may also impose contractual safety requirements on the contractor. The NLRB has ruled that safety regulations, as an essential part of the terms and conditions of employment, are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining whenever either party places the issue on the bargaining table.

15.12 Work Injury and Illness Recording

OSHA requires that employers keep certain records pertaining to recordable occupational injuries and illnesses.

Reportable cases are the following:

1. Occupational deaths, regardless of the time between injury and death, or the length of the illness.
2. Occupational injuries that involve one or more of the following: loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, transfer to another job, or medical treatment other than first aid.
3. Occupational illnesses that involve one or more of the following: loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, transfer to another job, or medical treatment other than first aid.

Recordable cases are classified as follows:

1. Total recordable cases. The sum of all recordable occupational injuries and illnesses, including deaths, lost-workday cases, and nonfatal cases without lost workdays.
2. Deaths.
3. Total lost-workday cases. The sum of cases involving days away from work and/or days of restricted activity.
4. Nonfatal cases without lost workdays. The sum of cases that are recordable injuries or illnesses which do not result in death or lost workdays, either days away from work or days of restricted activity.
5. Total lost workdays. The sum of days away from work and days of restricted work activity.

15.13 Work Injury and Illness Rates

As a means of analyzing, summarizing, and presenting workplace injury and illness data, incidence rates are computed and published for employers of all kinds, including contractors. An incidence rate is the number of recordable injuries and illnesses among a given number of full-time workers (usually 100 full-time workers) over a given time (usually one year). When a contractor has calculated his incidence rate, he can track it over time, analyzing for trends, or he can compare his company's incidence rate with that of other companies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts surveys of occupational injuries and illnesses each year and publishes incidence rates by industry, by employer size, and so on.

To determine his incidence rate, a contractor can count the number of entries on his OSHA Form 300, or consult his OSHA Form 300A. Incidence rates can be calculated on different bases, as the contractor might choose.

A total recordable case incidence rate would be calculated as shown in Figure 15.1.

Sometimes an incidence rate called the DART (days away from work, days of restricted work activity or job transfer) is calculated. The DART incidence rate would be calculated as shown in Figure 15.2.

Incidence rate statistics compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor show that the construction industry consistently has one of the worst safety records of all American industries, despite the adoption of OSHA and the application of all of the other safety-minded factors described in this chapter. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, safety consciousness, policies, practices, and mind-sets cannot be reinforced too often or too emphatically.

15.14 OSHA and Industry Trade Associations, Construction Companies, and Individual Workers Are Making a Difference

In four decades, OSHA and state programs, coupled with the efforts of employers, safety and health professionals, unions, and advocates, have had a dramatic effect on workplace safety. Since 1970, workplace fatalities have been reduced by more than 65 percent and occupational injury and illness rates have declined by 67 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has almost doubled.

Worker deaths in America are down, on average, from about 38 worker deaths a day in 1970, to 12 per day in 2012, the most recent year for which statistics have been compiled. Worker injuries and illnesses are down, from a total incidence rate of 10.9 in 1972, to 3.4 in 2011.

15.15 Economic Benefits of Safety

In addition to the all-important humanitarian aspects of workplace safety, there is an additional compelling economic motivation in accident prevention. The fact is, a number of financial benefits accrue to the contractor who conducts field operations in a safe manner and whose accident experience is low. The most immediate and obvious economic gain is the savings realized because of accidents that do not happen. Discussion was provided in a previous section regarding the direct and indirect costs of accidents that are not covered by insurance, and the fact that these costs can constitute serious financial loss for the contractor.

Additionally, studies have shown that construction workers appreciate and value job safety in the workplace, even though they sometimes tend to be careless in their work habits. Employees who feel that their contractor employers are genuinely concerned about safety, and who see tangible evidence of this concern, are more likely to be loyal and cooperative workers, and to be motivated to work safely. The incorporation of safety planning and safety measures of every kind as a part of the mind-set that pervades the entire company, and as an integral part of all construction operations, conveys a powerful message that safety is an important part of everything the contractor does. This, in turn, builds high employee morale and employee loyalty. Safety is one of the potent forces that make workers proud of the company they work for, and proud of the manner in which they perform their jobs, and proud of their record in preventing accidents. The fruits of a safety-first mind-set and high worker morale are higher production and better workmanship, two economic benefits of huge significance.

Another important financial benefit that accrues directly to the contractor as a result of fewer workplace accidents is the reduced cost of workers' compensation insurance premiums, stemming from reduced experience modifier ratings (EMRs), which are determined for all contractors individually and are used by insurance companies to determine the premiums for workers' compensation insurance. As discussed more fully in Chapter 8, a contractor's EMR value is derived directly from the contractor's accident history. The EMR serves as a modifier to the contractor's basic rate, called the manual rate, for his required workers' compensation insurance. If two contractors are bidding or negotiating for the contract award on the same project, and one has an EMR of 0.8 while the other has an EMR of 1.1, the contractor having the lower EMR acquires a significant competitive advantage. Additionally, it should be noted that many owners use contractors' EMR values as an element of prequalification for bidding or negotiating contracts for construction projects and/or as an element in scoring and evaluating contractors' proposals.

Additionally, safety is also an extremely important aspect of public relations. There are few other functions the contractor can engage in that have as much potential for generating public good will and positive public relations, and for avoiding negative reactions from the public, as the contractor making it clear that he maintains at all times and in every way, an active focus on safety in every aspect of his work.

15.16 Safety Services of Contractor Associations

Local chapters of contractor organizations such as the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) provide an array of invaluable services in providing their members with safety services of all kinds. The professional staffs of these and other similar organizations provide their members with a wide variety of safety publications, manuals, videos, and in-person training programs on every aspect of workplace safety. Many of these associations have written guides and outlines for contractors' safety program development, and standards to promote and assist the membership with their company safety programs. Many of these associations maintain a full time safety expert on their staff in metropolitan areas, for ready access and use by member contractors. These safety specialists can perform training on job sites or in-house for contractors, can provide safety consulting services, and can perform job site safety reviews and mock OSHA inspections.

15.17 The Role of Management in Safety

Top management of a construction contracting company bears the ultimate responsibility for the company's safety policies, as well as the company's safety philosophy and mind-set. Management provides for safety awareness and safety training. Company management is ultimately responsible for the accident record compiled by company employees. The impetus for safety consciousness and improved safety performance must emanate from this level.

Legislation and court decisions charge the employer with the responsibility to:

• Provide a safe and healthful place to work.
• Provide safe appliances, tools, and equipment.
• Enforce safety rules.
• Provide instructions and training regarding potential hazards to employees.

Construction companies must now comply with a number of federal and state regulations, with the prime responsibility for safety residing with company management. There is a growing vulnerability of upper and middle managers to personal and criminal liability arising from lawsuits that result from workplace injuries. If a company acts in wanton, willful, or reckless disregard for the safety of its employees, its management can be prosecuted, and managers are becoming more vulnerable to these types of lawsuits.

The attitude of management toward safe work practices will invariably be reflected by the company's project managers, superintendents, and supervisors and, in turn, by the craft workers. An atmosphere of top-level concern and action keeps everyone in the company mindful of safety at all times. Conversely, if the top executives are not sincerely and demonstrably interested in preventing accidents and injuries, and if this mind-set is not continuously conveyed, this attitude will be perceived by managers and craft workers, and will be reflected as a lesser degree of concern on their part. This must not be allowed to happen.

If employee cooperation and participation are to be obtained, the accident control program must start with the genuine and demonstrated interest and support of company management. In addition, management must provide adequate support in the form of dedicating adequate funds and other resources to assure the successful operation of all of the aspects of a comprehensive safety program.

Every level of company management therefore, must reflect a sincere and continuous concern for safety, and must set a good example of compliance with safety regulations. The logical beginning for a construction contracting company is a written company safety policy, produced by top management and communicated clearly to everyone in the company. This policy should contain clearly written rules and standards regarding every aspect of safety and should convey the message in unmistakable terms that management intends to enforce its policies at all times. The policy should contain the additional note that management plans to fully support the policy with a program of continuous training, and that management will provide whatever safety apparatus and personal protective equipment (PPE) is needed, in order to ensure safety in the workplace. This policy should be widely publicized so that all employees become familiar with it, especially with the aspects that pertain directly to them.

A carefully worded safety policy, signed by the company president, that is personally and forcefully brought to the attention of every employee will emphasize management's desire and determination to reduce accidents. In addition, a written policy is essential to the enforcement of safety rules by supervisors. It is important that company management place the administration and enforcement of the safety policy directly in the mainstream of company operations. Safety must be included as a company objective, along with productivity and quality performance.

Top administrators should provide timely credit and commendation for good safety performance whenever and wherever it occurs. The attendance of executives at employee safety meetings will impress workers with management's sincere desire to eliminate job accidents and to promulgate safety in the workplace.

It is recommended that company records be maintained in such a way that they can break down company accidents by project, so that top management can see where safety problems exist. Field supervisors should be evaluated for promotions and salary increases in terms of their accident records as well as their records of production and cost management. Including safety performance in employee evaluations for promotions and salary have proven to be an effective means of reducing job accidents and enhancing safety in the workplace.

15.18 The Company Safety Program

A written company safety program is every bit as much a part of a contractor's business as estimating and project management. The company safety program should include specific descriptions of:

• The company's safety organization.
• Safety meetings, and classes, and seminars.
• Safety training and personal protection.
• First aid training.
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automatic external defibrillator (AED) training.
• Fire prevention.
• Safety documentation and record keeping.
• Job site inspection.
• Accident reporting.
• Near miss reporting.
• Hazard reporting.

Fundamentally, the company safety plan must comprehensively and in detailed fashion identify specific job hazards and provide for training the employees to conduct their work consistently in a safe manner that will minimize the risk of injury. The cause of an accident is an unsafe act or an unsafe condition. Statistics show that 85 percent of all construction job accidents are the direct result of unsafe acts (behavior) and 15 percent of all such accidents are the direct result of unsafe conditions. This is a fact that must be recognized and communicated by a company safety program and indicates that working conditions must be maintained so as to eliminate both unsafe acts and unsafe conditions.

An unsafe condition is a physical circumstance, or a mechanical fault or defect that could cause an accident. Such a condition can result from inadequate safety planning, and is a consequence of the way the job is planned or the manner in which it is conducted. In most cases, unsafe conditions can be corrected by enhancing awareness and providing training, which will result in changing job procedures and the work environment.

An unsafe act is the failure of an individual to follow correct procedures, or failure to use the proper work methods. These are caused by personal carelessness or lack of safety training. Such acts can be prevented by safety education for the individual worker, and by enforcement of safety regulations. Because insurance company studies clearly show that an unsafe act by a worker is present in the vast majority of all construction accidents, the company safety plan should certainly direct itself specifically to this point, and the emphasis should provide a highly personal focus. Merely checking the field work for unsafe conditions will not suffice.

Training programs to assist supervisors with the safety planning on all aspects of their projects, and to educate workers on how to properly perform their tasks, are essential to any company plan. The U.S. Department of Labor, American National Standards Institute, National Safety Council, American Society of Safety Engineers, construction trade associations, and others provide various kinds of aid and assistance with regard to safety training and instruction. Organized labor plays an active role in health and safety training and sponsors educational programs in this regard. First aid training sponsored by local offices of the American Red Cross can be a valuable part of the company safety training program. Company safety directors and safety specialists employed by contractor professional associations are invaluable resources for training of all kinds.

In addition, most insurance companies offer a variety of loss-prevention services. Safety products, training programs, job site visits, reviews of company safety efforts, and services on special problems are among the services provided by insurance companies.

Rules, safety devices, mechanical safeguards, and PPE are important to the prevention of job accidents, but the mental attitude of the workers is even more significant. Until an awareness of their individual responsibility and a desire to ensure their personal safety are established in the minds of all employees, efforts to reduce accidents will not be fully effective. Accident prevention in construction is largely a human relations problem and can be achieved primarily through education, training, enforcement of policies and standards, persuasion, and unrelenting vigilance. People cause accidents, and only people can prevent them. The company plan must emphasize the personal approach to job safety, and management efforts at all levels should be directed to this point.

Because of differences in organization, type of activity, and scope of operations, each contractor must develop an individualized accident prevention plan that fits his own particular circumstances. Job hazards differ considerably among different types of projects such as housing, building, highway, heavy, utility, and industrial construction, a fact that must be reflected by the detailed workings of each contractor's safety program.

Overall responsibility for the company's safety program should be placed with an individual who is capable, energetic, qualified, and genuinely interested in safety in the workplace. This person may be a company executive, a certified safety professional, or a qualified and motivated staff assistant. It is important that this person have the authority to carry out his functions effectively. He is made responsible for project safety planning, safety training, distribution and use of safety equipment, maintenance of first aid facilities on the projects, acquisition, maintenance, and availability of PPE and other safety appliances of all kinds, provision of AEDs, job inspections, investigation of accidents, writing and filing of accident reports, documentation and record keeping regarding safety training, and other associated duties.

Company safety meetings of supervisory personnel, held at regular intervals, can also be very effective for the contractor. A formal program consisting of a guest safety speaker or a film may be presented. Information concerning how the company ranked in state and national safety awards and recognitions, and statistical ratings can be discussed. Accompanying this could be a discussion of recent company lost-time accidents, with information on how they could have been prevented. Regular safety inspections of each project and a detailed investigation of all lost-time accidents are important aspects of a company safety plan. All near-misses should be reported and analyzed. Safety competitions between company projects for the best safety records may also be conducted, as well as special recognitions provided for project managers, superintendents, and supervisors for exemplary safety practices or performance records. The participation of rank-and-file craft workers can also be encouraged through the awarding of cash prizes for their safety suggestions and slogans.

A contractor's safety program must also pay special attention to the training of personnel who operate heavy trucks and the enforcement of safety regulations that pertain. Compliance with drug-testing rules, vehicle inspections, maintenance standards, driver qualification and licensing, driving time limitations, and accident-reporting requirements are mandatory and require special attention. Trucking safety regulations require that well-qualified and properly rested drivers operate properly maintained vehicles. Driver qualification requires background investigation, study of driving record, written and road tests, medical examination, and drug testing. Federal and state regulations also have strict requirements pertaining to inspection and maintenance of trucks and trailers. Recent safety laws are now being applied to all firms that use trucks and buses. Similar standards should also be effected for all equipment operators on company job sites.

15.19 The Project Safety Plan

Accident prevention aimed at the avoidance of specific occurrences must be planned into each construction project, and into each activity or operation performed on the project. The ever-changing nature of a project during the course of construction does not allow for the detection and elimination of hazards purely on an experience basis, and makes it imperative that monitoring efforts continuously evaluate existing conditions for new hazards. The contractor should establish as an essential part of the planning for each project the particular hazards that the proposed methods, procedures, and equipment will create, and then should devise an accident prevention plan to mitigate them.

Relying on company safety policies, developing a basic safety plan for the project, establishing safety policies and procedures for the project, and relying on their own knowledge and experience, the project manager and superintendent can commence field operations and implement the plan. The following additional procedural steps are suggested for the conduct of the safety program throughout the course of construction activities:

1. Assign prime responsibility for the project safety plan and its enforcement to the project manager and the superintendent, and communicate to everyone on the project that these managers are responsible for all aspects of safety. Under their direction, each craft foreman or supervisor is made responsible for all aspects of safety as they pertain to his group. It is the foreman who is with the crew all of the time, and it is the foreman who must watch for unsafe practices or conditions, and who must promote safety by instruction, precept, and example. On large projects there may be a safety engineer who coordinates the overall plan and devotes his time and energies exclusively to matters of safety, first aid, sanitation, fire prevention, and other such activities.
2. Make suitable and adequate first aid facilities readily available. These facilities may range from a well-supplied first aid kit on small projects to a nurse-staffed infirmary on very large ones. On the usual job with no professional medical assistance available on the site, first aid training for supervisors and foremen is essential, and is sometimes contractually required. Telephone numbers of the nearest hospital facilities and ambulance service should be stored in cell phones, personal digital assistants, laptops, and tablet computers for ready reference, and should be posted at key locations around the job site as well. First aid kits should be dustproof and easily available, and employees must be informed regarding their locations. First aid kits must be checked at frequent intervals for any needed replenishment or replacement of contents.
3. Provide safety indoctrination and training for all new personnel to acquaint them with the company safety policy, to provide training and direction and rules needed for performing their work in a safe manner, and to stress that strict conformance with all safety policies and regulations is a condition of employment. Special safety instruction must be provided for particularly hazardous work. Every employee should be instructed to report immediately any injury, however minor, to his foreman and to obtain suitable first aid treatment. Employees should be trained to immediately report any unsafe condition they observe, or any unsafe act by another employee.
4. This training should be documented, and employee signatures obtained on acknowledgments that they have received this training by date, time, and place, and records maintained and filed so as to be accessible. These records should be archived at the conclusion of the project, for the length of time indicated by the records retention provisions of company policy.
5. Insist on the wearing and proper use of personal protective clothing and equipment by all workers at all times, with no exceptions allowed.
6. Conduct periodic “toolbox” safety talks and demonstrations on the project for all work crews. Information regarding the proper use of tools and equipment, the handling of materials, the building of scaffolds, and proper operation of equipment can be topics of meaningful job site safety meetings. Additionally, recent hazards abatement, near-misses, and accidents on the project can be discussed and analyzed. The material that is presented should be specific, practical, and pertinent to current operations. Suggestions for improved safety should be solicited from the workers. These toolbox talks should be documented, and workers' attendance recorded, and records should be maintained.
7. Utilize safety posters, safety instruction cards, and warning signs. Prominent display of the project accident record, as well as notices that remind workers of the specific project safety requirements, can be very effective.
8. Periodic meetings of the superintendent, craft foremen, and other supervisors are essential to review job safety and to make necessary revisions to the program. Investigate all lost-time accidents and near-misses, and devise corrective measures to prevent their recurrence.
9. Provide adequate, suitable, and easily accessible firefighting equipment and materials. Because welding and flame cutting are among the most frequent causes of construction fires, special regulations must apply to these activities, including the use of a designated “watch person” at the site of the welding and flame cutting operations. OSHA requires that a “fire watch” be present during any “hot work.” The fire watch must remain at the site of the work for not less than 30 minutes after completion of said work. Specific areas should be provided for the storage of flammable, combustible, and explosive materials.
10. Establish a program of regular periodic job safety inspections. The inspection team should include the company safety specialist and the top field supervisor. Notes of safety violations and job hazards should be made, and immediate action taken to correct them. Each violation or hazard must be followed through to completion or correction.
11. Insist on good project housekeeping. Designated storage areas for materials, tools, and supplies should be maintained and used. Rubbish and waste material should be removed promptly from the area of operations.
12. See that regular equipment maintenance includes safety inspection. This maintenance should include inspection of accident hazards such as frayed cables, bad tires, slipping clutches, and improper electrical grounds. Inspection and maintenance must not be limited to mechanical equipment, but should also be extended to scaffolding, towers, ladders, and other non-operating items.
13. Utilize the services of the safety specialists and the other resources available from contractor professional associations.
14. Seek and obtain the full cooperation of all subcontractors on the project. All of the measures previously described must include subcontractor personnel as well.

The contractor's safety planning should also include the regular practice of conducting job hazard analyses, also known as job safety analyses. On each activity taking place in the project, and especially if the activity contains some element of risk or potential danger, the foreman or superintendent assembles the crew who will perform the work and performs the analysis with them. Key elements of the analysis include the following:

1. Break the activity or task down to its elementary steps.
2. List and discuss all potential safety hazards in each step.
3. List and discuss corrections for each hazard.
4. All members of the crew sign and date a form attesting that they have participated in the job hazard analysis.
5. These forms should be submitted to the controlling contractor before the work begins on the activity.

Job hazard analyses have been shown time after time, to be of tremendous value in promoting safety and avoiding accidents on job sites. Their use is not required by OSHA, but is highly recommended on all projects and on all types of construction.

15.20 Owners' Requirements Regarding Safety Policies and Plans

It is important to note that owners impose a number of safety requirements with regard to their construction projects today. Not only do owners require disclosure of contractors' EMR factors as noted earlier, but additionally, many owners require submittal by the contractor of his company safety policy, and his specific safety plan for the project being considered. This information may be included among the elements of the prequalification requirements established by the owner before the contractor can submit a proposal for the project, or it may be requested as part of a competitive sealed proposal submittal for evaluation by the owner. The contractor's company and project safety policies and plans also are typically included in the discussion when negotiated contracts are formed.

Additionally, many owners have their own safety policies and procedures pertaining to their company or for the project location or facility where the contractor will be working. Owners commonly require the contractor to sign an acknowledgement that he and his management personnel have read, and understand, and agree to abide by, all of the provisions of the owner's safety policies.

15.21 The Field Supervisor

Top management has the overall responsibility for establishing safety policies, procedures, and safe working conditions throughout the company. However, most of the policies, and most of what is planned and established must reach the craft workers on each project by way of the field supervisor. The craft foremen truly are key participants in the success of any company and project safety plan.

To be effective, any campaign for the prevention of accidents in construction must be communicated to the individual workers in a clear, practical, and understandable form. Although the executives of the company may prescribe safe practices, it is the foreman, who has regular daily contact with the craft workers, and who plans and directs their work, who plays a dominant role in implementing the company safety policy.

Construction workers tend to mirror their supervisors' attitude toward safety. For this reason, the wholehearted cooperation of the superintendent and all of the craft labor foremen is indispensable to the success of any safety program. The best way for supervisors to promote safety and accident prevention in the workplace is to unfailingly practice what they preach. A worker is much more likely to follow a supervisor's example than that same supervisor's instructions. If supervisors break a safety rule, they not only reduce the importance of the rule but also lose some of the confidence and trust of their workers. If the field supervisors clearly believe in safety and reflect that fact constantly by their every word and deed, then the craft workers can be expected to be much more cognizant of the advantages of safe work practices and the costly results of any alternative.

It is largely up to the supervisors to find and control the potential hazards on the job. They must teach by doing and must be able to demonstrate the safe way to perform any particular function or job activity. Job instructions to workers should include not only what is to be done, but also how it is to be done. Accident potential decreases when the worker is given complete procedural instructions in advance.

Safety regulations must be enforced. The workers must be taught safe practices and must be required to follow them. Safety discipline is a very important aspect of an accident prevention program. If a rule has been established, the supervisor must always enforce it. An established safety regulation that is not enforced will not be obeyed. If a rule is enforced only some of the time, a worker who is reprimanded for a violation will feel that he is being singled out and that he is being unfairly discriminated against. Those who violate a rule and are not reprimanded will begin to believe the regulation is not important because it is not enforced. The supervisor must also, of course, exercise care to separate personal feelings from the enforcement of safety discipline.

The objective of safety discipline is to improve the safety performance of the crew. Workers who are convinced that a safety procedure is designed to protect their welfare are much more likely to support its enforcement. Similarly, workers are more likely to accept a reprimand if they believe that the standard or rule is for their own protection and is enforced uniformly. A spirit of group responsibility for safety among crews helps to establish a self-disciplining attitude with regard to safety matters of all kinds.

15.22 Accident Records

The keeping of accident records is an important component of a company's safety and health program. These records serve to pinpoint the locations and underlying causes of job injuries and illnesses, information that is vital to the planning of more effective accident prevention programs. These records also provide information on the efficacy of the overall safety effort, and provide statistical information with regard to how the company compares with other construction firms. Accurate, complete, and detailed records can be invaluable in defending against charges of safety law violations, or claims for damages. Accident information can be valuable in quite another way. It can be used to arouse the competitive spirit of workers and supervisors on the various projects in a company to establish a safety record that compares favorably with the experience of other projects or with their own past record, or that surpasses the record of their peers on other projects the company is performing.

Accident recording and reporting might be thought of as beginning with the first aid log that is maintained on each project. Every job injury or illness is made a matter of record, regardless of how inconsequential it may appear to be. A daily record book is maintained where entry is made of the date, name of the employee affected, nature of the injury or illness, first aid treatment provided on the site, and any further information deemed desirable.

This is followed by a first report of injury, which is required by workers' compensation laws in most states. Such a report is prepared for every incident that requires off-site medical treatment, regardless whether time is lost from work or not. Another report that is used by many construction companies is prepared by the appropriate foreman for each recordable injury or illness, and is directed toward analyzing the accident and determining how it could have been prevented.

OSHA requires that occupational injury and illness records be kept in a prescribed OSHA format, for all employees. These records were discussed in a previous section of this chapter.

15.23 Protection of the Public

An additional and extremely important aspect of a company's safety policies and accident prevention program includes providing for the safety of the general public, in all ways and at all times. It has been documented repeatedly that people are innately curious about construction projects and construction operations. It has also been shown that people are capable of many thoughtless or careless actions in their attempts to observe construction operations. The contracting firm must reconcile itself to the fact that members of the public will wish to see what is happening on the construction site. Many contractors have found that if an attempt is made to shut people out completely, they will often feel compelled to climb over the fences, follow trucks through the gates, or perform some other clasically human but equally hazardous act. Verbal admonitions or warning signs seem to have little effect, and positive action must be taken to protect the public against its own unthinking actions. Many contractors believe that the best method may be for the contractor to allow the public to view the proceedings from controlled vantage points, such as “observation portholes” in the job fence, or by the provision of a safe viewing platform outside the job fence. The contractor who provides means for the public to see the work and simultaneously be protected from its hazards is wise from the standpoint of both safety and public relations.

The problem of protecting the public becomes even more difficult during weekends and at other times when job operations are not in progress. Children, in particular, seem to find construction projects irresistible, and insurance company records and contractors' case studies are filled with cases of harm coming to youngsters playing on projects during the contractor's nonworking hours. On projects located in areas where children are likely to be present, the job safety plan must make specific provision for this additional hazard.

15.24 The Cost of a Safety Program

An effective company safety program does, of course, require the commitment of money and other resources by the contractor. However, the overriding fact is that comprehensive safety considerations are absolutely essential for the proper conduct of a construction business. But there is an important distinction that must be recognized between safety costs and other items of company expense. It has been well demonstrated that the costs of safety programs are more than compensated for by savings on accidents that do not happen. Additionally, many contractors will hasten to assert that the cost of an effective safety program is an investment, and the investment continues to pay dividends of all kinds to the company.

Accident reports make it evident that most job accidents can be prevented at only moderate—and frequently no—additional cost. The additional expense involved in building a proper scaffold, shoring an excavation, grounding a portable electric tool, or otherwise performing the work in a safe and controlled manner is insignificant compared to the costs of accident or injury. The contractor cannot look on its safety program as an extra source of expense. Rather, because an effective accident prevention program is necessary to achieve fast-moving, smoothly functioning jobs, any costs entailed should be considered merely as normal business expenses associated with efficient operation of the company.

15.25 Summary and Conclusions

Safety, in all of its aspects, is required by law in all types of construction contracting, and is driven by the imperative of humanitarian considerations. Despite the fact that construction is fraught with hazards of all kinds, an overarching precept of those who own, and manage, and work in construction companies, is that safety must permeate all aspects of the business enterprise, must be a component of the mind-set, and must be one of the drivers of all that is done by those who work in a construction company.

Chapter 15 Review Questions

1. State the improvement in the safety record in the construction industry since the adoption of OSHA.
2. Discuss owners' emphasizing their wish to have contractors who construct their projects do so safely, and the use of mechanisms on the part of owners such as prequalification, requiring adherence to the owner's safety program, requiring contractors to disclose their EMRs, and telling those contractors having an EMR greater than the value the owner has chosen that they need not submit a proposal to the owner, requiring contractors to furnish the owner copies of their safety policies and their safety program, and so on.
3. Discuss the economic impact of an accident on a construction project and include at least five examples of direct and indirect costs.
4. List and define the contractor's four obligations with regard to HAZCOM.
5. Define and discuss the definitions of creating employer, exposing employer, correcting employer, and controlling employer with regard to culpability for hazards or accidents on a multiemployer construction job site.
6. Define incidence rate and DART incidence rate.
7. Is the body of law governing health safety on construction job sites primarily state or federal law? Explain.
8. Define and discuss the importance of safety planning and hazard analysis for all activities to be performed on the job site.
9. What obligations does the Occupational Safety and Health Act impose on an employer?
10. Define and discuss the significance of OSHA Form 300.
11. Define and describe the document which provides a summary of the specific provisions of the OSHA legislation which pertain to the construction industry.
12. List three economic benefits that a construction contractor can expect to derive from a fully functional safety program.