{"id":1967,"date":"2020-03-15T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.construction.com\/newsroom_details_pag\/construction-safety-the-importance-of-supervisors-and-safety-culture\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T09:46:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:46:50","slug":"construction-safety-the-importance-of-supervisors-and-safety-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.construction.com\/reports\/construction-safety-the-importance-of-supervisors-and-safety-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Safety: The Importance of Supervisors and Safety Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction Safety: The Importance of Supervisors and Safety Culture<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Contractors are increasingly focused on jobsite safety and worker participation, according to a new report<\/a> from Dodge Data & Analytics.<\/p>\n

With the support of The Center for Construction Research and Training and Procore (CPWR), the analysis reinforces emphasis on the importance of supervisors onsite and their leadership in promoting safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cDodge studies consistently find that most contractors are struggling with skilled worker shortages,\u201d explained Steve Jones, senior director, Industry Insights at Dodge Data & Analytics in a written statement. \u201cThe competitive edge from being able to retain staff is growing in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jobsite workers and supervisors dominate four factors selected by the highest percentage of contractors as essential aspects of a world-class safety program: jobsite worker involvement (84%); strong safety leadership abilities in supervisors (83%); regular safety meetings with jobsite workers and supervisors (82%); and ongoing access to safety training for supervisors and jobsite workers (77%).<\/p>\n

These four factors rank far above other important factors such as regular safety audits (67%), having staff positions devoted to safety (61%) or regular safety meetings among staff at the corporate level (62%).<\/p>\n

The study also shows that companies rely on their supervisors and foremen to deliver safety training to jobsite workers \u2013 73% selected this as the means by which they provide training, almost 50% more than those selecting the second most popular option of using an in-house trainer.<\/p>\n

According to the study’s authors, the construction industry needs to make sure supervisors and foremen can provide the safety leadership needed on site, but the analysis suggests that the industry tools to do so are not being fully utilized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our partnership in these studies with Dodge Data & Analytics over the years we learned that well over 80% of the contractors surveyed relied on the OSHA 30-Hour training program for their supervisory training, even though it was not designed for that,\u201d said Chris Cain, CPWR executive director, in a statement.<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cThe Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) module was developed to fill this gap, and more than 70,000 workers have received the FSL training since it was first introduced three years ago. The contractors we\u2019ve spoken to who have utilized it speak very highly of it, but from this report it is clear that we need to do a better job of promoting this free resource to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2017, the Foundations for Safety Leadership training module was introduced as an elective to the OSHA 30-hour safety training course, but only 43% of those participating in the study were familiar with this offering. This is despite the fact that, among the 29% who are actually using it, nearly all (90%) report that it is effective in improving the jobsite safety climate.<\/p>\n

The study also looked at the tools to improve safety management, from the use of safety policies and organizational practices to training practices.<\/p>\n