Construction's Safety Status Quo Has Got to Go!
Do you know the one accepted, bottom-line truth about construction? The thing that people both inside and outside of the industry agree is true?
Here it is: People die.
Yep. That's the one thing almost everyone -- again, including folks inside and outside of the industry -- agrees upon about construction.
Outsiders, well, their dismal view of the industry is due to a worn-out stereotype, you probably tell yourself. The industry's made great strides in safety in recent years, is something else you probably tell yourself. Maybe there's some truth there. But, there's probably also some truth to this fact: To one degree or another, you take it for granted that "people die." You accept it.
And I'll be honest. Even construction journalists are guilty of complacency and too readily accepting this fact as, well, acceptable. Let me give you an example. A couple or so years ago, when cranes seemed to be falling down on a regular basis all around this country, I was sitting in on an editorial meeting, and someone noted that another construction worker had died, though not related to a crane accident. At that point, a senior editor explained to everyone that just because a constructior worker died, it didn't mean it was news. Construction workers die all the time, was the basic argument and instruction. The editor was slightly apologetic for pointing out that sad fact, and everyone agreed.
People die. Like I said, it's pretty much the one and only "fact" about construction that we all agree upon. And I'm just about sick of it. I'm sick of hearing horror stories like the recent one out of Tulsa, Okla., where on Aug. 16 a contractor's tractor-scraper lost power and somehow continued running, apparently amock, until it finally ran over a worker, "graphically" killing him. Or, how, during the first week of a Duke Energy project in Kings Mountain, N.C., a motor grader struck and killed a 19-year-old kid who was working on the job.
This is unacceptable. Completely and totally unacceptable. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 816 construction workers died at work during 2009. If that stark number, along with the examples above -- not to mention the lifetime of your experience -- hasn't yet awakened you to the fact that there is an alternative reality that just might be possible, then let me share my "ah-hah" moment with you.
Earlier this month, I attended the Construction Industry Institute's annual conference, held this year in Orlando. During one of the keynote speeches, Craig Martin, president and CEO of Pasadena, Calif.-based Jacobs, spoke about "BeyondZero: Changing How We Feel About Safety." ("BeyondZero" is Jacobs' trademarked name for its safety program.) I was listening attentively, as journalists do, recording the speech and taking notes. Martin's delivery was measured and serious, with lengthy pauses peppered in between his remarks.
Slowly, I realized something. For maybe the first time in all of the conferences I'd attended, somebody was actually speaking out against the status quo. Contractors weren't doing their jobs as they should, Martin asserted. People shouldn't have to die; there was no need for that to happen. Describing the industry's current safety record as "pretty dismal," he then called on those in attendance to work to achieve something he thinks is really possible -- a zero incident rate. After all, whatever the industry -- or any individual company, for that matter -- was doing, it was clearly not enough. His message was clear. Complacency was not acceptable. And, in his slow, measured way, you could tell this contractor meant it.
I was kind of embarrassed. After all, through more than 20 years of covering the construction industry as a journalist, I'd carried around a version of that accepted "truth" of "People die" as a concrete, provable fact. I'd considered it tried, tested and true. Somewhere in my mind and in my heart, I'd shrugged off accidental death as an accepted part of life in a dangerous business. And here was this guy -- this contractor -- telling me I was wrong.
With that in mind, and with the hope that his words will also encourage you to question your own assumptions, I'm providing an excerpted version of Martin's speech to the CII crowd below. Read on. Then do something.
* * * * *
Here it is: People die.
Yep. That's the one thing almost everyone -- again, including folks inside and outside of the industry -- agrees upon about construction.
Outsiders, well, their dismal view of the industry is due to a worn-out stereotype, you probably tell yourself. The industry's made great strides in safety in recent years, is something else you probably tell yourself. Maybe there's some truth there. But, there's probably also some truth to this fact: To one degree or another, you take it for granted that "people die." You accept it.
And I'll be honest. Even construction journalists are guilty of complacency and too readily accepting this fact as, well, acceptable. Let me give you an example. A couple or so years ago, when cranes seemed to be falling down on a regular basis all around this country, I was sitting in on an editorial meeting, and someone noted that another construction worker had died, though not related to a crane accident. At that point, a senior editor explained to everyone that just because a constructior worker died, it didn't mean it was news. Construction workers die all the time, was the basic argument and instruction. The editor was slightly apologetic for pointing out that sad fact, and everyone agreed.
People die. Like I said, it's pretty much the one and only "fact" about construction that we all agree upon. And I'm just about sick of it. I'm sick of hearing horror stories like the recent one out of Tulsa, Okla., where on Aug. 16 a contractor's tractor-scraper lost power and somehow continued running, apparently amock, until it finally ran over a worker, "graphically" killing him. Or, how, during the first week of a Duke Energy project in Kings Mountain, N.C., a motor grader struck and killed a 19-year-old kid who was working on the job.
This is unacceptable. Completely and totally unacceptable. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 816 construction workers died at work during 2009. If that stark number, along with the examples above -- not to mention the lifetime of your experience -- hasn't yet awakened you to the fact that there is an alternative reality that just might be possible, then let me share my "ah-hah" moment with you.
Earlier this month, I attended the Construction Industry Institute's annual conference, held this year in Orlando. During one of the keynote speeches, Craig Martin, president and CEO of Pasadena, Calif.-based Jacobs, spoke about "BeyondZero: Changing How We Feel About Safety." ("BeyondZero" is Jacobs' trademarked name for its safety program.) I was listening attentively, as journalists do, recording the speech and taking notes. Martin's delivery was measured and serious, with lengthy pauses peppered in between his remarks.
Slowly, I realized something. For maybe the first time in all of the conferences I'd attended, somebody was actually speaking out against the status quo. Contractors weren't doing their jobs as they should, Martin asserted. People shouldn't have to die; there was no need for that to happen. Describing the industry's current safety record as "pretty dismal," he then called on those in attendance to work to achieve something he thinks is really possible -- a zero incident rate. After all, whatever the industry -- or any individual company, for that matter -- was doing, it was clearly not enough. His message was clear. Complacency was not acceptable. And, in his slow, measured way, you could tell this contractor meant it.
I was kind of embarrassed. After all, through more than 20 years of covering the construction industry as a journalist, I'd carried around a version of that accepted "truth" of "People die" as a concrete, provable fact. I'd considered it tried, tested and true. Somewhere in my mind and in my heart, I'd shrugged off accidental death as an accepted part of life in a dangerous business. And here was this guy -- this contractor -- telling me I was wrong.
With that in mind, and with the hope that his words will also encourage you to question your own assumptions, I'm providing an excerpted version of Martin's speech to the CII crowd below. Read on. Then do something.
* * * * *
Craig Martin, president and CEO, Jacobs, Pasadena, Calif., speaking on "BeyondZero: Changing How We Feel About Safety."
(After closely reviewing safety data that showed their incident rate improving, Martin says management decided) "We were still hurting too many people. We really decided we had to do something different. Our historic focus on processes and procedures, on numbers and measurement … just wasn’t getting us to where we wanted to go.
"Without a doubt, we 'got' safety, intellectually. We had the intellectual commitment we needed to make it happen. But we just weren’t where we needed to be on the side of emotion and caring. We needed to add to that what we call Beyond Zero, the Culture of Caring.
"We began focusing equally on how do we care for our employees? How do we communicate an idea of safekeeping to our employees?
(After closely reviewing safety data that showed their incident rate improving, Martin says management decided) "We were still hurting too many people. We really decided we had to do something different. Our historic focus on processes and procedures, on numbers and measurement … just wasn’t getting us to where we wanted to go.
"Without a doubt, we 'got' safety, intellectually. We had the intellectual commitment we needed to make it happen. But we just weren’t where we needed to be on the side of emotion and caring. We needed to add to that what we call Beyond Zero, the Culture of Caring.
"We began focusing equally on how do we care for our employees? How do we communicate an idea of safekeeping to our employees?
"(Because) when we talked to job sites that had extraordinary safety performance, and we asked them what they attribute doing so well to, they never said, ‘We have great processes and procedures.’ They always said things like, ‘We’re a family;’ ‘We care about each other on this job site;’ ‘We don’t want our friends to get hurt.’
"That was a focus that we saw was missing, and we tried to drive into our culture." (Martin admits at first the attention to "caring" made some folks uncomfortable.)
"The caring side is driving the improvement we’re seeing and I think it will continue to drive improvement for us as a company. We’re hurting 6% fewer people in absolute terms, than we were in 2004. That’s meaningful, because that’s a company that’s over twice as big as it was in 2004. We’ve doubled the size of the company, and we’ve reduced the absolute number of injuries by 6%. But we’ve still got a long way to go. Because that number is not zero. There’s plenty of challenge out in front of us.
"But we feel we’re making progress. And we feel very strongly that if we can stay the course, and we can continue to balance caring with good, effective safety processes and procedures, we’re going to continue to do greatly better as we move forward.
"If you look at the CII data, (CII members have) always been better than (the overall) industry, which is just dismal."
Lately, though, Martin says safety incident rates have shown little to no improvement in recent years. Martin reports the incident rate for CII members at around 0.60 over the last several years, with little to no improvement shown.
"I’m going to suggest that we’ve gotten comfortable with where we are. In the back of our minds, we’ve kind of thought, ‘Well, good is good enough.’ And I don’t think it needs to be that way.
"We’re going to have to re-commit to safety in new and more energetic ways. We’re going to have to change our mindsets.
"What could our industry be like? I believe for all practical purposes, our industry can get to zero incidents and zero injuries. We have to make that happen collectively.
"It's going to take the commitment of everyone in this room to something more than ‘good is good enough’ if we’re going to be successful. But if we do, it’s going to make a profound difference.
"It’s going to take a constant renewal of your commitment that nothing but zero is OK. And you’re going to have to do whatever it takes to make that happen."
* * * * *
You'll hear more from me regarding safety, but right now I want to hear from you. What do you have to say about this? Share your safety stories here. And stay tuned.
Finally, follow me @Twitter.
I was a young engineer just out of college and had got quite confortable walking on<br/>railroad tracks. I was assigned an even more junior engineer to assist me - it may be<br/>that he...
August 30, 2010
I was a young engineer just out of college and had got quite confortable walking on
railroad tracks. I was assigned an even more junior engineer to assist me - it may be
that he was to hold the other end of the tape and this was to be the first time for him on
the tracks and I think he told me it was o.k with him. In any case I did not anticipate
what happened. We had to cross 6 tracks in tunnel of heavy traffic. I had crossed
the tracks before and had gotten the routine of traffic and could sight traffic so I was
sure we could cross in safety. Well we had got about halfway thru the crossing when
he froze I remember (at least in my memory) in my calmest voice urging him to move
I think I said just 3 more tracks to cross but this may be memorys tricks anyway after
what seemed like an eternity he did cross and the story has a happy ending. I do
remember and I am sure this is not memorys tricks that I did consider leaving him
To generalize I believe that "freezing" is the "cause" of many other inexplicable
accidents. To Generalize further I believe that insufficient attention is being paid
to the arrangement and functions of the controls of construction equipment and
that the problem is getting worse as the controls become more complicated.
railroad tracks. I was assigned an even more junior engineer to assist me - it may be
that he was to hold the other end of the tape and this was to be the first time for him on
the tracks and I think he told me it was o.k with him. In any case I did not anticipate
what happened. We had to cross 6 tracks in tunnel of heavy traffic. I had crossed
the tracks before and had gotten the routine of traffic and could sight traffic so I was
sure we could cross in safety. Well we had got about halfway thru the crossing when
he froze I remember (at least in my memory) in my calmest voice urging him to move
I think I said just 3 more tracks to cross but this may be memorys tricks anyway after
what seemed like an eternity he did cross and the story has a happy ending. I do
remember and I am sure this is not memorys tricks that I did consider leaving him
To generalize I believe that "freezing" is the "cause" of many other inexplicable
accidents. To Generalize further I believe that insufficient attention is being paid
to the arrangement and functions of the controls of construction equipment and
that the problem is getting worse as the controls become more complicated.
See this proposal from several years ago: <a href="http://www.lhsfna.org/index.cfm?objectid=5C481C78-D56F-E6FA-9CE4170E17AF9960" rel='nofollow'>http://www.lhsfna.org/index.cfm?objectid...
August 31, 2010
See this proposal from several years ago: http://www.lhsfna.org/index.cfm?objectid=5C481C78-D56F-E6FA-9CE4170E17AF9960
with half of all construction workers on unemployment the death rates will plummet...socialism is great.
August 31, 2010
with half of all construction workers on unemployment the death rates will plummet...socialism is great.
Unfortunately, Mr. Anonymous above, the 2009 fatality rate, just announced, stayed completely flat. From ENR: "The number of construction deaths declined 16% in 2009, but with the volum...
August 31, 2010
Unfortunately, Mr. Anonymous above, the 2009 fatality rate, just announced, stayed completely flat. From ENR: "The number of construction deaths declined 16% in 2009, but with the volume of construction work down, the industry's fatality rate remained flat, the Dept. of Labor has reported. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest annual census of fatal occupational injuries, released Aug. 19, reports that construction deaths totaled 816 last year, down from 975 in 2008. But the 2009 fatality rate, which takes account of shifts in industry activity, showed no improvement, holding even with 2008, at 9.7 per 100,000 full-time workers."
I couldn't agree more with Scott. What's needed in a new mindset. I heard a presentation about safety one day that changed the way I looked at it. He speaker said most people take pri...
August 31, 2010
I couldn't agree more with Scott. What's needed in a new mindset. I heard a presentation about safety one day that changed the way I looked at it. He speaker said most people take pride in the improvement in the numbers - or it's only x% which isn't bad. However, he suggested you look at a different way. If 1% will get killed each year - you must call in your people and pick those 1% of employees that will die during the year. then tell them you've selected to die this year. I doubt anyone would be able to do that - however, that's the attitude we need - any death is one too many.
With respect to cranes, the new OSHA standard gives an absurd definition of the<br/>all important center of gravity. It states:<br/><br/>"The center of gravity of any object is the poin...
August 31, 2010
With respect to cranes, the new OSHA standard gives an absurd definition of the
all important center of gravity. It states:
"The center of gravity of any object is the point in the object around which its
weight is evenly distributed. If you could put a support under the point, you could
balance the object on the support."
The definition suggests you can balance a top heavy load on a point.
Furthermore a point has no size therefore to speak of supporting a load
under a point is exactly the same as supporting the load at the point and
supporting the load over the point that is suspending the load. These
3 conditions have vital consequences in construction got they correspond
to unstable equilibrium, neutral equilibrium and stable equilibrium.
The center of gravity need not be in the object - when hoisting a slingfold
of material, the center of gravity may be in the space between the objects.
(the definition speaks of "objects but what it means is obviously loads)
Finally "evenly distributed" begs the definition - for it is an intuitive description
of the center of gravity.
The phrase "center of gravity" itself is open to the objection that while it is a
time honored phrase - it is not immediately clear about why it is such an important
concept in construction. "Gravity" is used as a substitute for weight (more accurately
mass) and thus "center of mass" or "center of weight" which are in use are better
less confusing terms.
Even these terms however don't hint at what makes that particular point of such
vital importance in construction - for it is the point at which the load is on the
borderland of becoming unstable.
Therefore it is suggested that "center of gravity" be replaced by "tipping point"
all important center of gravity. It states:
"The center of gravity of any object is the point in the object around which its
weight is evenly distributed. If you could put a support under the point, you could
balance the object on the support."
The definition suggests you can balance a top heavy load on a point.
Furthermore a point has no size therefore to speak of supporting a load
under a point is exactly the same as supporting the load at the point and
supporting the load over the point that is suspending the load. These
3 conditions have vital consequences in construction got they correspond
to unstable equilibrium, neutral equilibrium and stable equilibrium.
The center of gravity need not be in the object - when hoisting a slingfold
of material, the center of gravity may be in the space between the objects.
(the definition speaks of "objects but what it means is obviously loads)
Finally "evenly distributed" begs the definition - for it is an intuitive description
of the center of gravity.
The phrase "center of gravity" itself is open to the objection that while it is a
time honored phrase - it is not immediately clear about why it is such an important
concept in construction. "Gravity" is used as a substitute for weight (more accurately
mass) and thus "center of mass" or "center of weight" which are in use are better
less confusing terms.
Even these terms however don't hint at what makes that particular point of such
vital importance in construction - for it is the point at which the load is on the
borderland of becoming unstable.
Therefore it is suggested that "center of gravity" be replaced by "tipping point"
Thanks, Scott, for your rejoinder on the death rates. Our old notions about injury and fatality rates dropping in a bad economy don't always hold these days- maybe people taking more ch...
August 31, 2010
Thanks, Scott, for your rejoinder on the death rates. Our old notions about injury and fatality rates dropping in a bad economy don't always hold these days- maybe people taking more chances in a bad economy offsets the usual trend of more experienced workers staying on the job when unemployment is high. If by "socialism" anonymous means government spending, that's mostly what's keeping the half of construction workers employed in my part of the country so I'm not sure I'd wish it to go away.
Steve
Steve
<br/> I have worked in construction for 46 years and part of that as a full time safety manager on ACOE projects. My observation is that minds have to be changed and the testosterone...
September 1, 2010
I have worked in construction for 46 years and part of that as a full time safety manager on ACOE projects. My observation is that minds have to be changed and the testosterone poisoned attitudes must change but most of these fatal attitudes belong to the workers... the same ones who die. Most employers I have seen today are well aware of the cost benefits of running a safe operation, but the rodeo clowns, tough guys are still around.
They nust be I.D.'d and fired...screw the EEOC.. thry are causing serious injuries and fatalaties.
Ronald Stratton, Oneida, NY
Mr judy....your response confirms my point......deaths are down over 16%....but just imagine the global warming (change) those extra people will cause.....isnt it great obamacare will p...
September 1, 2010
Mr judy....your response confirms my point......deaths are down over 16%....but just imagine the global warming (change) those extra people will cause.....isnt it great obamacare will pay to murder our children and save the planet.
I have made "the phone call" 13 times to say that someone's loved one is dead. I have made hundreds of phone calls to tell someone to meet me at the hospital.<br/> Let's forget the e...
September 2, 2010
I have made "the phone call" 13 times to say that someone's loved one is dead. I have made hundreds of phone calls to tell someone to meet me at the hospital.
Let's forget the emphasis on OSHA; it's a minimum for safety standards. Let's forget the numbers. Including the number of dead or "0" injury rates.
Let's focus on people, let's emphasize the importance of life.
For example: EVERYONE is GREEN. ENR focuses on it, all the talk is Green. Yet, there are a few of us out here saying HEY SAFETY BEFORE GREEN. Last year on a "green"project two individuals fell , one seriously, because to much energy was being use to heat the structure. Lighting is inefficient. In this summer , I walked in buildings where contractors were sweating profusely in ridiculous indoor jobs because the Owner or GC wanted to save "green energy credits"
Accidents should cost green credits at the minimum
So lets quit talking about numbers and start talking freely about actual things to do. First thing: get rid of indemnity in contracts and make everyone responsible for thier actions. Secondly, lets make sure that the right party is help responsible in a legal action. Sometimes the Sub gets nailed or the GC does because he was "in charge". We can do this by educating the defense bar and fighting for realisting Jury Instructions.
Frank Keres, Construction Risk Associates, Inc.
Frank.Keres@constructionriskassociates.com
Let's forget the emphasis on OSHA; it's a minimum for safety standards. Let's forget the numbers. Including the number of dead or "0" injury rates.
Let's focus on people, let's emphasize the importance of life.
For example: EVERYONE is GREEN. ENR focuses on it, all the talk is Green. Yet, there are a few of us out here saying HEY SAFETY BEFORE GREEN. Last year on a "green"project two individuals fell , one seriously, because to much energy was being use to heat the structure. Lighting is inefficient. In this summer , I walked in buildings where contractors were sweating profusely in ridiculous indoor jobs because the Owner or GC wanted to save "green energy credits"
Accidents should cost green credits at the minimum
So lets quit talking about numbers and start talking freely about actual things to do. First thing: get rid of indemnity in contracts and make everyone responsible for thier actions. Secondly, lets make sure that the right party is help responsible in a legal action. Sometimes the Sub gets nailed or the GC does because he was "in charge". We can do this by educating the defense bar and fighting for realisting Jury Instructions.
Frank Keres, Construction Risk Associates, Inc.
Frank.Keres@constructionriskassociates.com
One suit my company was named in was from the widow of a laborer who began removing an old fireplace and chimney system from the wrong end and was subsequently crushed. Because we had i...
September 3, 2010
One suit my company was named in was from the widow of a laborer who began removing an old fireplace and chimney system from the wrong end and was subsequently crushed. Because we had insurance, we were sued and settled - even though our plans had bracing warnings all over them.
Scott, I applaud you and your willingness to share your revelation. My thoughts are that we as an industry can and should continue to better our safety processes but we also need to eng...
September 3, 2010
Scott, I applaud you and your willingness to share your revelation. My thoughts are that we as an industry can and should continue to better our safety processes but we also need to engage the actual trade people. There is no disincentive to employees who choose to work unsafely even when they know better, we need some personal accountability for individuals who knowingly choose to ignore safety on the jobsite as well as continued vigilant safety programs and accountability for employers. We as an industry are missing a key component – the actual trade people and their roll. You are right we can do better but we have to work together and it won't be an easy process or with out opposition. A wise mentor of mine always says - "anything worth having won't come easy".
You can read more on my thoughts here:
We need personal safety records
http://enr.construction.com/opinions/viewpoint/2009/0401-PersonalSafetyRecords.asp
The controversy of Personal Safety Records
http://enr.construction.com/opinions/viewpoint/2009/0812-PortableSafety-1.asp
You can read more on my thoughts here:
We need personal safety records
http://enr.construction.com/opinions/viewpoint/2009/0401-PersonalSafetyRecords.asp
The controversy of Personal Safety Records
http://enr.construction.com/opinions/viewpoint/2009/0812-PortableSafety-1.asp
One accident is one too many regardless of outcome, disabling injury, death or other. The ultimate goal is to have effective programs in place that prevent this happening. I see it men...
September 20, 2010
One accident is one too many regardless of outcome, disabling injury, death or other. The ultimate goal is to have effective programs in place that prevent this happening. I see it mentioned that companies should be looking at OSHA as the minimum standards and they should be driving best practice through the industry. I have worked all over the world managing HSE programs and I am shocked at what I see in some areas of the US where programs and performance can be measured against developing countries. There is a need to look at how industry starts to drive best practice risk based approach rather than the “ I done it this way for 20 years” that seems so common.
Contractors and owners need to realize that saving life is important and also there is an additional they have to bear. You cannot rush your work, you have to spend time planning every ...
September 20, 2010
Contractors and owners need to realize that saving life is important and also there is an additional they have to bear. You cannot rush your work, you have to spend time planning every job, check every tool, harness, scaffold and penalize or fire those who violate those rules. Owners pay more to have a safe contractor will save in lawsuits that follow an accident. I know I have worked in BP's Texas City site. Lawsuits are deserving when owners and/or contractors are negligent, in the end it seems the only way to change behaviours.
And then remember that worker is probably the lone bread earner of a family. His or her absence from the children or other loved one's must be something everyone on a site have in the b...
September 20, 2010
And then remember that worker is probably the lone bread earner of a family. His or her absence from the children or other loved one's must be something everyone on a site have in the back of their mind. Plan every task and recognize the dangers involved.
