ABC Safety Report: Construction Companies Can Be Nearly 6 Times Safer Than the Industry Average Through Best Practices
30 April 2024 - 3:00PM
Associated Builders and Contractors today announced the findings
from its 2024 Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to
construction jobsite health and safety best practices. The report
is unveiled to coincide with Construction Safety Week, May 6-10.
The annual safety report also provides a comprehensive
understanding of the impact of deploying ABC’s STEP Safety
Management System, which enables top-performing ABC members to
achieve incident rates 576% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics construction industry average. Established in 1989, STEP
provides contractors and suppliers with a robust, no-cost framework
for measuring safety data and benchmarking with peers in the
industry.
“The tools in ABC’s safety report provide a roadmap to industry
leaders to win and deliver their work to communities without
incident through leadership commitment, cultural transformation and
industry-leading results,” said Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president
of health, safety, environment and workforce development.
“Top-performing STEP members measuring leading and trailing
indicators are nearly six times safer than the industry average,
achieving an 83% reduction in total recordable incident rates.”
ABC’s research on more than 900 million work hours completed by
participants in the construction, heavy construction, civil
engineering and specialty trades in 2023 identified the following
foundations of industry-leading safety best practices:
- Top management engagement: Employer involvement at the
highest level of company management produces a 54% reduction in
total recordable incident rates, or TRIR, and a 52% reduction in
days away, restricted or transferred rates, or DART rates.
- Substance abuse prevention programs: Robust substance
abuse prevention programs/policies with provisions for drug and
alcohol testing where permitted lead to a 47% reduction in TRIR and
a 48% reduction in DART rates.
- New hire safety orientation: Companies that conduct an
in-depth indoctrination of new employees into the safety culture,
systems and processes based on a documented orientation process
experience incident rates that are 45% lower than companies that
limit their orientations to basic health and safety compliance
topics.
- Frequency of toolbox talks: Companies that conduct
daily, 15-to-30-minute toolbox talks reduce TRIR and DART rates by
81% compared to companies that hold them monthly.
“Both the 2024 ABC Safety Performance Report and ABC’s STEP
Safety Management System will help any contractor or supplier on
their safety journey,” said Sizemore. “If we choose to lead, if we
choose to commit and if we choose to transform, together we will
create the conditions for everyone to do their work without
incident and go home safer, healthier, happier and fulfilled every
day.”
“Achieving industry-leading health and safety in the
construction industry is not just a goal, but a core value for ABC
members,” said 2024 Chair of the ABC National Board of Directors
Buddy Henley, president, Henley Construction Co. Inc.,
Gaithersburg, Maryland. “Including health and safety in every
action requires a commitment to excellence, a culture of
accountability and a relentless pursuit of ensuring every worker
returns home safely every day. STEP provides the platform for every
company to measure, strengthen and build their safety culture.
Committing to STEP is the first step to ensuring health and safety
are deeply integrated into the decision-making processes of our
industry.”
For seven years, ABC’s Safety Performance Report has captured
the results of ABC STEP member companies performing real work on
real projects to identify what comprises an industry-leading safety
program. ABC member firms participating in STEP measure their
safety processes and policies on key components and the criteria
for best practices through a detailed questionnaire, with the goal
of implementing or enhancing safety programs that reduce jobsite
incident rates.
The 2024 ABC Safety Performance Report is based on submissions
of unique company data gathered from members that deployed during
the 2023 STEP term, Jan. 15-Dec. 15. ABC collects each company’s
trailing indicator data as reported on its annual Occupational
Safety and Health Administration Form 300A (“Summary of
Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses”) and its self-assessment of
leading indicator practices from its STEP application. Each data
point collected is sorted using statistically valid methodology
developed by the BLS for its annual Occupational Injuries and
Illnesses Survey and then combined to produce analyses of STEP
member performance against BLS industry average incident rates. The
report demonstrates that applying industry-leading processes
dramatically improves health and safety performance among
participants regardless of company size or type of work.
The ABC 2024 Safety Performance Report is brought to you by
DEWALT, a Stanley Black & Decker brand, celebrating 100 years
in business by continuing to provide customers with total jobsite
and landscaping solutions.
Any company can participate in STEP. Visit abc.org/step to begin
or continue your safety journey.
Erika Walter
Associated Builders and Contractors
(202) 905-2104
ewalter@abc.org