Companies Can Be Nearly 6 Times Safer Than Average Through Safety Best Practices

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released findings from its 2024 Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to construction jobsite health and safety best practices. The report was unveiled to coincide with Construction Safety Week, May 6-10.

The safety report also provides a comprehensive understanding of the impact of deploying ABC’s STEP Safety Management System, which enables ABC members to achieve incident rates 576% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics construction industry average. Established in 1989, STEP provides contractors and suppliers with a framework for measuring safety data and benchmarking with peers in the industry.

“The tools in ABC’s safety report provide a roadmap to industry leaders to win and deliver their work to communities without incident through leadership commitment, cultural transformation and industry-leading results,” said Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president of health, safety, environment, and workforce development. “Top-performing STEP members measuring leading and trailing indicators are nearly six times safer than the industry average, achieving an 83% reduction in total recordable incident rates.”

ABC’s research on more than 900 million work hours completed by participants in the construction, heavy construction, civil engineering, and specialty trades last year identified the following foundations of industry-leading safety best practices:

• Top management engagement: Employer involvement at the highest level of company management produces a 54% reduction in total recordable incident rates (TRIR) and a 52% reduction in days away, restricted or transferred (DART) rates.
• Substance abuse prevention programs: Robust substance abuse prevention programs/policies with provisions for drug and alcohol testing where permitted lead to a 47% reduction in TRIR and a 48% reduction in DART rates.
• New hire safety orientation: Companies that conduct an in-depth indoctrination of new employees into the safety culture, systems, and processes based on a documented orientation process experience incident rates that are 45% lower than companies that limit their orientations to basic health and safety compliance topics.
• Frequency of toolbox talks: Companies that conduct daily, 15-to-30-minute toolbox talks reduce TRIR and DART rates by 81% compared to companies that hold them monthly.

For seven years, ABC’s Safety Performance Report has captured the results of ABC STEP member companies performing real work on projects to identify what comprises an industry-leading safety program. ABC member firms participating in STEP measure their safety processes and policies on key components and the criteria for best practices through a detailed questionnaire, with the goal of implementing or enhancing safety programs that reduce jobsite incident rates.

The 2024 ABC Safety Performance Report is based on submissions of unique company data gathered from members that deployed during the 2023 STEP term, January 15—December 15.

Any company can participate in STEP. Visit abc.org/step to begin or continue your safety journey.