Demolition Contractor Safety Review
With so much construction going on these days, how are the contractors doing on the safety side of the equation? This article is a brief examination of the front end of most construction jobs – demolition and site preparation.
The U.S. Census Bureau defines Site Preparation Contractors (NAICS 23891) as “establishments primarily engaged in site preparation activities, such as excavating and grading, demolition of buildings and other structures, and septic system installation.”
Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) divides this group into Residential and Nonresidential contractors, published OSHA data are combined, making it impossible to separate the safety performance of the two groups.
BLS data indicate that in the third quarter of 2016 (most recent available), there were 16,110 nonresidential site preparation firms employing just over 210,000 workers (13 employees each) at an average wage of $1,161 per week.
From October 2015 through September 2016, site preparation contractors received 742 citations from 293 Federal OSHA inspections, about 2.5 citations per inspection. Penalties averaged $2,891 per citation, well above the national average of $2,420. Most commonly cited were excavation requirements (111), requirements for protective systems (74), fall protection (53), preparatory operations (44), respiratory protection (37), safety training (33), asbestos (30) and head protection (23).
This sector lost 77 employees to fatal injuries in 2015, evenly split between transportation and contact with objects and equipment as leading causes. BLS combines these numbers into the larger construction sector, which routinely posts a fatality rate about triple the national average for all industry.
With a 2015 Total Recordable Incidence Rate (TRIR) of 2.7 per 100 employees, this industry performed better than the private sector national average of 3.0 for non-fatal injuries, but still spent $255 million on 3,510 lost-time cases. The leading nature of lost-times for this group that year was soreness and pain (920), followed by sprains, strains and tears (620) and fractures (570). Most frequently injured were backs (700), arms (290) and hands (290) from slips, trips, falls and overexertion. Though not the most frequent, the most expensive injuries by far ($61 million) were fractures, at an average $107,000 each.
Even if we ignore direct costs covered by workers’ comp, the hit to the industry is serious. 2015 data tell us that demo and site prep contractors lost $133 million on indirect costs not covered by workers’ comp, requiring $667 million in additional sales (at 20% profit) to recover the loss.
Lost-time injuries in this sector also tend to be relatively long-term, with 34% of being out for 31 days or more.
sharris@alamo1.com