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CONSTRUCTION SAFETY Lessons from Construction Safety’s Constant Change Managing uncertainty is a given in construction—safety professionals everywhere should take note. BY RAY PREST In construction safety, one thing is cer- tain: there’s a lot of uncertainty. Every worksite presents a constantly evolv- ing array of hazards, which means the risk of injury is constantly fluctuating, and there’s rarely enough time or logistical abil- ity to conduct more than the mandatory baseline safety training. Every single industry has to contend with real-time shifts in risk, but construc- tion companies have to deal with the problem on an entirely different level. For them, change isn’t just one of many safety challenges—it is, in many ways, the safety challenge. A year ago, in an OH&S column about the changing nature of construction em- ployment trends, I noted that even “the wake of the construction industry’s turbu- lent employee turnover patterns” can lead to notable safety concerns.1 That’s just as true today. If change is the only constant, then construction sites require safety interven- tions that do double or even triple duty, ones that can nudge workers to be more attentive to their personal safety no mat- ter what tool they’re using or piece of equipment they’re operating. The level of variability in construction obviously re- quires attention to OSHA requirements, hierarchy of controls and building strong systems. What makes these and other con- struction safety interventions more resil- ient to change? There are three major hall- marks of an intervention’s ability to ride the fluctuating waves of risk. And while they’re most applicable to construction sites, these types of interventions are more likely to have staying power in almost any industry. Flexibility The work that construction employees are tasked with can change from day to day. Sometimes, from hour to hour. And every task has its own dangers that require dif- ferent methods of mitigation. The most es- sential safety skills on a construction site are ones that are flexible, in that they apply to many different situations. Forklift certification is valuable, but only when workers are using a forklift. Contrast that with a more flexible safety skill such as the ability to recognize hu- man factors like rushing and then respond accordingly. In this case, the worker is more likely to operate a forklift at safe speeds. And then, a few hours later, the worker is less likely to multi-task, take a safety shortcut or hurry while using power tools. Flexible safety skills tend to fall into two categories: personal awareness and habits. Personal awareness is the ability to recognize what’s going on around you, as well as your own mental and physical states. In any given situation, it’s incredibly useful to be able to understand how these affect individual safety outcomes. Meanwhile, habits can apply in any situ- ation that either occurs frequently or has some sort of cue that will trigger the habit. Think of the folks who most reliably wear PPE on the job. They’ve likely made it a 14 Occupational Health & Safety | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 www.ohsonline.com Tund/stock.adobe.com