In this article found in Western Exteriors Magazine, Refinery CEO Susan Eick, wrote about a recent construction tragedy in Kelowna, British Columbia that claimed five lives, a stark reminder that even mandatory safety training cannot completely mitigate critical safety incidents.
“In today’s changing environment, it is widely acknowledged that the construction process is increasingly complex as a result of the interaction between various factors with dynamic and uncertain properties, including the level of scientific knowledge required, the environment in which construction occurs, the resources employed, and the number, and interaction of different elements in the construction process. Add to this the new safety factors brought to work sites by COVID-19, and you can see that standard safety practices of the past may not keep up with the industry’s current construction boom environment.
As a result, we see that safety in the construction industry is getting worse, and it’s costly. Released April 27, the 2020 Report on Work Fatality and Injury Rates in Canada indicates 1,027 workers died of work-related causes in 2018, marking an increase of 76 from 2017. Specific to the construction industry, WorkSafeBC reported a 13 per cent increase in serious injuries between 2014 and 2018, and a 17 per cent increase in time loss claims for the period. Comparatively, the manufacturing sector reported a decrease of 8 per cent in serious injuries and a decrease of 9 per cent in time loss claims for the same time period.”
Read the full article: http://westernexteriorsmagazine.ca/psychological-health-and-safety-in-construction/