Hazard Recognition Methods in the Construction Industry

Abstract

Studies have established that construction workers are more likely to be injured than workers in other industries. In the United States, the construction sector has accounted for more than a thousand fatal injuries every year between 1995 and 2008. Although injury rates have reduced substantially in the past decade, the construction industry still accounts for the most on-the-job fatal injuries of any industry. Also, it has been suggested that the observed reduction in injury rates may be attributed to fiscal constraints that resulted in 17% decline in the number of hours worked, rather than the improvement in safety performance. A large portion of construction injuries occur because new workers lack the ability to predict, identify, and respond to hazardous conditions in dynamic work environments. In order to improve workers’ situational awareness, employers often put new workers through hazard recognition training programs. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard method of hazard recognition. In an effort to identify the most promising hazard recognition programs for construction, the research team (1) conducted focus group sessions with a panel of fifteen industry experts; and (2) reviewed literature to identify hazard recognition techniques. The results of this study can be used by practitioners to strategically identify potential hazard reception programs that complement existing methods. Researchers may build on this study by further investigating the most promising strategies by testing them with active crews, measuring their effectiveness, and determining the most cost-effective methods that could potentially become industry standard.