"Safety is everyone's job:" the key to safety on a large university construction site.
OBJECTIVE
Construction risk management is challenging.


METHODS
We combined data on injuries, costs, and hours worked, obtained through a Rolling Owner-Controlled Insurance Program (ROCIP), with data from focus groups, interviews, and field observations, to prospectively study injuries and hazard control on a large university construction project.


RESULTS
Lost-time injury rates (1.0/200,000 hours worked) were considerably lower than reported for the industry, and there were no serious falls from height. Safety was considered in the awarding of contracts and project timeline development; hazard management was iterative. A top-down management commitment to safety was clearly communicated to, and embraced by, workers throughout the site. DISCUSSION AND IMPACT: A better understanding of how contracting relationships, workers' compensation, and liability insurance arrangements influence safety could shift risk management efforts from worker behaviors to a broader focus on how these programs and relationships affect incentives and disincentives for workplace safety and health.
McDonald
Mary Anne
MA
Division of Community Health, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., USA. maryanne.mcdonald@duke.edu
Lipscomb
Hester J
HJ
Bondy
Jessica
J
Glazner
Judith
J
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005160:Facility Design and Construction / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D014495:Universities; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*