CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISE SAFETY STATISTICS
Safety is a fundamental part of any construction project. Ensuring safety on construction sites, both for workers and the surrounding environment, requires detailed research, preparation, planning and implementation. To effectively manage and ensure safety in the construction process, construction enterprises must rely on detailed statistical information about their safety and health performance. This paper aims to provide an overview of the importance of construction enterprise safety statistics, including a review of the types of statistics that should be gathered, the methods and tools utilized to produce these statistics, and the ways in which construction enterprise safety statistics can be used to both improve safety and reduce injury and illness.
The most important use of safety statistics is to direct policy, management and decision-making processes toward decreasing both workplace risks and their health and safety impacts. For most construction companies, safety statistics are essential for understanding, managing and mitigating workplace risks. Occupational health and safety directors, who are responsible for health and safety regulatory compliance within a construction enterprise, may rely on a variety of types of statistics related to the anticipated and actual risk levels of all activities, equipment performance and the health and safety structure of the organization.
The most common methods used to measure safety performance include injury and illness, process safety, and personal safety statistics. Injury and illness statistics, or ‘lost time’ statistics, are the most widely used measure of safety performance. This includes information such as hours worked, area of the property worked in, total employee hours, number of lost time injuries per month, days of activity and recovery time, and other related data. Process safety statistics are measures of overall risk levels regarding the production and operation of process-based technology. These risk levels are used to ensure that the processes are in compliance with health and safety regulations. Personal safety statistics measure the number of times a single employee has been exposed or involved in an incident and the number of potential hazard categories present in an area.
Another important data set to consider when measuring safety performance is the type and number of safety and health audits conducted. Audits are used to establish a baseline measure of safety performance for all operations and to identify areas that need improvement. Audits are also used to ensure that the enterprise’s health and safety protocols are being followed. The data gathered during the audit process should be analyzed using statistical analysis tools and, if needed, presented in the form of monthly operational reports.
Finally, construction enterprise safety statistics should also be used to develop preventative safety programs. These programs should include initiatives such as job hazard analysis and safety meetings that provide employees with the skills and knowledge needed to reduce the likelihood of injury and illness. These programs should also include an effective system of inspections and reviews that are employed to identify potential safety hazards.
Overall, construction enterprise safety statistics are critical for understanding and preventing workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Statistics can be used to make informed decisions and to develop effective safety programs. Collecting, analyzing and accurately interpreting safety statistics can provide powerful insights into enterprise safety performance, as well as help to effectively mitigate risks.
