Most contractors understand that fewer workplace injuries create lower employee turnover, higher employee morale, lower Contractors Insurance costs, and a slew of other benefits for both employers and employees.
But do you ever feel like you’re beating your head against the wall when you try to explain the importance of workplace safety to your workers?
Too often, younger employees feel invincible, and older employees become complacent, so it’s up to you to make them understand the importance of safety and the impact a lack of safety can have on them and their families.
One surefire way to do that is with cold, hard eye-opening facts and stats like those below.
20 safety facts to share with your employees
- One out of every ten construction workers is injured on the job every year.
- There is an average of two deaths every day in the construction industry.
- Non-fatal injury rates in construction are 71% higher than any other industry.
- Every year, one in five work-related deaths are in construction.
- Another way to say it - nearly 20% of all work-related deaths were in the construction industry.
- Over a 45-year career in the construction industry, there’s a 75% likelihood that a worker will experience a disabling injury and a one in 200 chance that an employee will die due to a workplace injury.
- 60% of construction workplace accidents happen during an employee’s first year on the job.
- OSHA’s “Fatal Four” - falls, struck by, electrocutions, caught-in/between - caused 58.6% of construction worker deaths in 2018.
- Eliminating deaths caused by the “Fatal Four” would save 591 construction workers in the U.S. every year.
- Falls account for the largest number of “Fatal Four” deaths (33.5%).
- Of all the industries, construction has the most fatal falls, representing 51% of all falls nationally.
- Fall protection is the most frequently cited OSHA standard following OSHA Inspections.
- Struck by object injuries account for 11.1% of “Fatal Four” deaths.
- Electrocutions account for 8.5% of “Fatal Four” deaths.
- Caught-in/between injuries account for 5.5% of “Fatal Four” deaths.
- In 2018, construction workers between the ages of 35-44 were more likely to experience a non-fatal injury (19,410) in the U.S.
- In 2018, construction workers between the ages of 45-54 had the highest number of fatal injuries (228) in the U.S.
- While older workers are injured less frequently than their younger co-workers, their injuries tend to be more severe and take longer to recover from.
- Between 2003 to 2016, construction companies with fewer than 20 employees accounted for 56.6% of the industry’s 5,155 fatalities.
- Not a statistic, but a fact – the majority of construction work-site injuries and deaths are avoidable.
Act Now to Save on Contractors Insurance!
Another way to save on Contractors Insurance is to work with one of the independent agents at American Insuring Group who specialize in Contractors Insurance. We understand your needs, so we can ensure that you have the right coverage, and we check with many competing insurance companies to ensure you pay the lowest rate on that great coverage. Give us a call now at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 or connect with us online.
These statistics were gathered from a variety of sources, including the following:
- OSHA
- Safety + Health magazine
- National Safety Council
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Big Rentz
- The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)
