Safety on large building construction projects

Large building construction projects in Canada were studied to assess the degree that policies and practices of a company or project influence worker safety, as measured in terms of injury frequency. Results showed that company-level practices influence safety performance. Safety performances were better on projects of companies that employed a full-time company safety officer; those which exhibited stronger top-management support for safety; those which conducted safety meetings for supervisors; and those which monitored the safety performances of their supervisors. Lower injury rates were also noted on projects that employed a project safety officer; those on which specific job site safety tours were conducted; and those which included safety issues in regularly held coordination meetings. Better safety performances occurred on projects which employed more sophisticated scheduling methods. It was also noted that better safety results occurred when the owner or the owner’s representative was included in coordination meetings. Job pressures, particularly those imposed by budgetary constraints, were found to adversely affect safety performance.