There’s no getting around the irony that the buildings created by construction workers provide safety and security for families, healthcare professionals and patients, educators and students, and people across all sectors—and yet, in the process of building those safe havens for everyone else, the complex tasks and challenges construction workers face are filled with risk. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC) the construction industry remains among the most dangerous in the world.
One is one too many
Construction Dive editor Zachary Phillips writes in his December 2024 article that, “Construction last year counted the highest number of workplace deaths in the sector since 2011, according to newly released (U.S.) federal data.”
Construction had 1,075 fatalities in 2023, according to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. It measured a fatal work injury rate of 9.6 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers and indicates that the numbers have been hovering around this rate for over a decade.
Slips, falls, and trips accounted for 39.2 percent of the fatalities, with falls from a height between six and 30 feet the primary source of 109 fatalities. The remainder were a combination of on-site vehicle and transportation accidents, exposure to hazardous materials, and explosions and fires. Not included among those fatalities are suicides, with workers in the construction sector in both the U.S. and Canada having higher rates than any other sector.
In 2023, there were 169,200 recorded injuries, although the total may be higher depending on the criteria used for reporting, which may vary from state to state.
Meanwhile, in Canada, according to the AWCBC, there were 183 fatalities in 2022, (the most recent year available) making jobs in the industry the most dangerous in the country.
According to the AWCBC, the most significant causes of fatalities are falls while working at heights, equipment accidents while working with cranes and excavators, electrical hazards due to improper wiring or faulty equipment, and exposure to hazardous materials such as asbestos, silica dust, or solvents, which pose long-term health risks.
Workers who received compensation for their injuries from the board numbered 28,512, but again, as in the U.S., the number of injuries may be under underreported.
Why are the numbers so high?
One would expect there to be fewer injuries and deaths in recent years given that the industry as a whole has been pushing for higher safety standards. The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) has mandated measures for construction safety including fall protection systems such as harnesses and guardrails; machine guarding to prevent heavy equipment accidents; stringent electrical safety standards; and worker training programs. Employers are required to invest in regular safety audits, personal protective equipment (PPE), and continuous training for workers. In addition, many employers are going above and beyond, adding dedicated Safety Managers to their roster of employees.
And yet, despite this emphasis on safety in the last 25 years, the fatality and injury rates remain about the same.
As Gregory Sizemore, Vice President Workforce Development, Safety, Health, and Environmental for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), told Phillips, “Unfortunately, we are not seeing the gains or progress that we would consider favorable for the health and safety of construction workers.”
In her Journal of Commerce article, Jean Sorensen shares some insights. “In both Canada and the U.S., falls have been the leading cause of death in construction fatalities. However, the U.S. based Center for Construction Research and Training has looked at the why and found that workers who were seniors had a higher fall mortality rate.”
With fewer young people entering the skilled trades, employers value the expertise of older workers and want to keep them working, but “older workers are also more likely to experience hearing loss, decreased muscle strength, and diminished balance, all a natural part of the aging process, but which are contributing to the falls,” the research body found. Because of a short supply of skilled workers leading to a need to retain older workers, the center recommends pairing younger, physically fit workers who can do the heavy lifting with seniors who can impart knowledge.
Another cause of the higher accident rate, despite efforts to lower it, can be attributed to language barriers faced by migrant workers, who in the U.S. account for 25 percent of the workforce, as noted by Richard White in his article, Challenges Posed by Language Barriers in Construction.
Examining findings published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in 2019, White writes that the construction industry has the greatest foreign language skills gap, with 40 percent of its workers reporting a skill gap, which is projected to rise to 54 percent in the future. Those skilled workers and labor are needed, however, as fewer young North Americans enter the trades.
“With the steady increase of cultural diversity in the workforce, there is a growing need to fill in communications gaps,” writes White. “Given the nature of this kind of labor, miscommunication or failure to understand the safety training or the instructions given by the English-speaking site manager may result in injuries and even death.”
However, he continues, “clear multilingual safety training can be a key component in keeping the jobsite safe.” He recommends hiring skilled, bilingual (English and Spanish) or even multilingual personnel for on-site supervisory positions, having materials such as safety training, employee handbooks, construction plans, and other documents translated by professionals who understand construction terms, and offering immersive language training for migrant workers. “Taking these steps will make your company more welcoming for people from different countries. Crossing these communication gaps can give you access to unrecognized and underutilized talents of a diverse workforce without any compromises on their safety.”
Behavioral psychology and safety culture
Traditionally, construction companies prided themselves on finishing a job on time and on budget. But more and more, companies have begun adding a third point of pride to their accomplishments, that of being a company where safety comes first and where a culture of safety permeates every aspect of the business and the skilled trades thrive alongside a culture of efficiency. Many of the construction company CEOs and project managers we speak with proudly tell us about their safety programs which have resulted in far fewer injuries.
We were particularly intrigued by the Safety and Leadership program initiated in 2006 by the CSM Group in Kalamazoo, Michigan, founded on a sound understanding of behavioral science based on the teachings of Dr. John Austin, a psychology professor at Western Michigan University. He looked at patterns and trends in behaviour that had been observed, combined them with data collected from the industry, and by pinpointing those components that drive human behavior, related it to the industry.
“This approach to behavior science is what we teach our colleagues with the goal of helping them understand the science behind it,” CSM Group CEO Stuart Mason told us. “Before they can create the right environment to get the right behaviors, they must understand Austin’s basic premise: if you create an unsafe environment, you get unsafe behaviors and the reverse is true—a safe environment leads to safe behaviors,” he shared.
“It is important to look at the whole person,” he said, “because there are many factors that employees bring to work with them such as family or relationship stress, or medical issues, which influence how they respond to day-to-day tasks. This requires an organization to maintain an open environment where employees can speak freely and ask for help if they need it.” Thus, “We talk about psychological safety as well as physical safety. It is not easy to build up psychological safety and trust, but when you do, it is transformational, and that is what underpins our safety culture here.”
Added Katrina Reed, the company’s Director of Marketing and Sales, “Construction workers are 12 times more likely to die by suicide than they are by workplace hazards and that represents a significant number of individuals who didn’t have, or didn’t think they had, an environment of care that was open to them.”
In response to these concerns, CSM Group has broadened its outreach beyond its own staff, and in partnership with MIOSHA, the Michigan state agency which regulates workplace safety and health, has begun offering a variety of workshops in both English and Spanish to their trade and manufacturing partners to elevate their level of safety, both physical and psychological, in the hopes that a broad-based safety culture will lead to positive change.
Visionary technologies transforming traditional practices
Being deployed in tandem with a vibrant safety culture are a plethora of high-tech approaches to increasing on-site safety for workers. Wearable technology, including smart helmets, vests, and glasses with sensors and communication devices, is making it possible to monitor a worker’s vital signs in real time and detect signs of fatigue, alerting workers it is time to take a break and thereby preventing accidents caused by exhaustion, according to an editorial in the October 16, 2024 edition of BOSS Magazine.
Wearable technology can also detect hazardous conditions in the immediate environment and instantly communicate safety alerts to workers and supervisors. When integrated with proximity sensors, they can alert workers of potential collisions with equipment on sites where heavy equipment and workers move constantly.
Drones, meanwhile, are helping safety managers accomplish comprehensive site inspections and look at real-time work zones, alerting them to potential danger before it escalates. They can also be used for structural inspection of tall buildings and bridges, reducing the need for workers to access dangerous areas.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are leading the way in predictive analysis by analyzing vast amounts of data to identify safety risks, predict equipment failures, and optimize work schedules to reduce fatigue-related incidents.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be employed in safety training, allowing workers to practice handling dangerous scenarios in a risk-free environment. AR is beneficial on active sites, as workers wearing AR-enabled smart glasses can receive real-time information about their surroundings—hazards, safety reminders, and step-by-step instructions for complex tasks.
Exoskeletons—wearable support systems—can augment workers’ physical capabilities, reduce the risk of muscular/skeletal disorders and injuries associated with repetitive tasks, reduce strain during lifting and carrying tasks, and provide greater endurance for tasks requiring prolonged standing. In a similar vein, robotics and automation can provide assistance with high-risk electrical tasks or with asbestos removal, for example, minimizing workers’ exposure to potentially life-threatening situations.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems can create detailed 3D models to identify safety hazards before construction begins and create safety plans, such as the placement of safety equipment, emergency exits, and first aid stations.
And finally, there’s IoT (Internet of Things) technology, which creates smart sites where safety hazards are immediately identified and addressed. For example, IoT technology-enabled machinery can automatically shut down if a worker enters a dangerous area, or alert supervisors if unsafe operating conditions are found.
“Integrating these technologies will be crucial for construction companies aiming to create safer work environments and achieve excellence,” says BOSS. “Embracing these innovations allows the construction industry to build a future where safety and productivity go hand in hand.”
As 2025 gets into full swing, it seems so much more is now understood about how to reduce the potential for fatalities and serious injuries, through a more broadly accepted safety culture and through the amazing powers of smart technology. The industry has the knowledge and the tools to lower those numbers and make it possible to celebrate safety. All it needs to do now is to invest in it, take it off the shelf, and put it into practice.
