How can we lower the fatalities in the Canadian Construction Industry?

Introduction

Government entities such as the provincial and federal governments have spent many resources helping construction companies provide the best legislation to protect their workers and the public from getting hurt. They have spent a lot of time and effort compiling legislative requirements and industry best practices that companies can use as a guide and a reference. Above all, they have also hired practitioners to help guide or enforce the legislative requirements. 

It is necessary to bring this up for discussion because I am a passionate safety professional who has been part of workplace fatalities and a person who frequently follows up on the fatality rate statistics. It is not fair for a worker not to go back to their beloved ones at the end of the shift. And as industry leaders, we should develop progressive and practical ways to establish control measures to protect our workers from dying at work. 

Given the government's continuous effort into safeguarding construction workers, I would like to use this presentation to come up with ways to improve safety measures to prevent worker fatalities in Canada.

Background

Between 2015 and 2017, the construction industry experienced the largest number of deaths from any industry in Alberta. This is because of the fact that the construction industry exposes workers to unsafe and hazardous working conditions. 

These conditions include: 1) confined spaces, 2) toxic chemicals, 3) working alone, 4) working on and around scaffolding at a great height, and 5) working close to heavy machinery. These high-risk activities have been directly involved in worker fatality incidents in the construction industry (Workplace Incident Fatalities Accepted by the Worker's Compensation Board 2015 – 2017, Government of Alberta, December 2016 – 2017). 

The current safety measures that most employers in the construction industry use are legislatively required by the jurisdiction they are operating in and what is stated in their safety management system. And suppose they are an organization that wants to go above and beyond. In that case, they'll submit their safety program to a certifying partner who will issue them a certificate of recognition or a certificate of achievement based on which standard the company is getting audited through. The frequency of these audits is done every year internally and external audits every third year. The external audits are usually conducted by a third-party professional authorized to conduct audits on behalf of the certifying organization. Given the current climax in the construction industry, conducting audits through a certifying association is one way of showing your safety competence

Given all that we know now, I would like to open the floor for discussions, suggestions, and opinions.

Discussion and Questionnaire

• How frequently would you want the external audits to take place?
• What has the industry been doing wrong in terms of worker safety?
• Do you think more enforcement should be implied in the construction industry by the various jurisdictions?
• What other safety measures would you recommend?
• Should the safety professional be given more responsibilities under any of the various legislations in Canada?

Let me know what you think.

Thank you!