In a Tough Economy Safety Must Remain Priority One

A pedestrian bridge in Atlanta, Georgia collapsed recently killing one person and injuring 17 others, all of them commercial construction workers. OSHA inspectors who arrived on the scene shortly after the job-site disaster occurred, had yet to determine whether or not the collapse was the result of any safety violations or contractor oversights. The concrete bridge, which is a part of a walking trail that spans a deep ravine, was still under construction when it collapsed spilling workers into the rocky basin.

While OSHA has up to six months to make their findings public, the possibility of safety cutbacks in response to difficult economic times will no doubt be at the forefront of their investigation. Why? It's not surprising that during global economic down-turns, many General Contractors have no choice but to cut back on expenses. All too often, many of these cutbacks are safety-related, such as placing less emphasis on the need for protective clothing, hardhats, eye and footwear.

Even contractors who refuse to make direct cutbacks in their safety program do so in an indirect way when they ask depleted field crews to put in extra time on the job-site. Regardless of demanding project schedules, too much time in the field can exhaust workers and that's when mishaps occur. All too often the mishaps result in serious injury or loss of life.

As a builder feeling the economic crunch, what steps have you taken to make sure commercial and industrial job-site safety is still priority number one? After reading about the disaster in Atlanta, will you take a second look at asking field crews to put in additional hours? Will you take a renewed look at your existing job-site safety program? What new and innovative ways can you go about making your job-sites even safer?

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