By the Numbers – Contractor Safety

DID YOU KNOW?

According to the most recent OSHA statistics available, 5,250 workers died on the job in 2018, or more than 100 a week. Out of 4,779 worker fatalities in private industry, 1,008 — or more than 21% — happened in construction. The leading cause of death, excluding highway collisions, in construction? Falls.

Criminal prosecutions are rare under the law that established OSHA, but they have been on the rise in recent years, along with the number of fines levied, due to changes made during the Obama administration.

According to the latest “Death on the Job” report by the AFL-CIO released in April 2019, only 99 worker death cases had been prosecuted criminally under the federal act since its passage. The report found that OSHA resources still are lacking and penalties are still too weak, with “much work remaining to be done.”

According to a report from ISN Analytics, the use of contractors and the outsourcing of work continue to grow. About 42% of organizations plan to increase their outsourcing. Almost half of the surveyed contractor hiring organizations reported that between 40% and 100% of their on-site work is completed by contractors, and 23% of organizations use over 1,000 contractor companies. In 55% of organizations, the EHS department owns the contractor management process.

These figures highlight the growing need to improve contractor safety management in order to better safeguard the safety of a workforce, employee and contractor alike. The safety performance of contractors and…