Owner Involvement in Construction Site Safety

Abstract

Since the 1980's, owners have greatly expanded their involvement in construction site safety. Owners who take a pro-active role in safety can significantly influence the safety experience on a construction project. The importance of owner involvement in ensuring safety is reflected in the recent ASCE Policy Statement 350 which states that construction site safety requires attention and commitment from all parties involved and that owners should take an active role in safety. In addition, the rising costs of health care and workers' compensation, as well as the escalation of litigation involving third parties, are not being ignored by owners. Owners realize that the costs of injuries are ultimately reflected in the cost of construction. The role of owners in construction site safety has been recently studied. Research has shown that owners can effectively enhance project safety by taking such actions as requiring the designer to address safety during project planning and design, pre-qualifying constructors based on safety, addressing safety in the contract, and promoting safety awareness through the project team. This paper provides an overview and evaluation of the actions that owners can take to ensure safety on construction sites. The paper describes elements of and guidelines for an effective owner safety program — a program that owners can implement on a project to promote construction site safety and help ensure zero accidents.