Among the additional factors that OSHA identifies as contributing to unsafe working conditions and an increased risk of injury and fatality include employees who are not trained to recognize and control the hazards of their job, expedited work schedules, and the absence of a safety and health program to ensure employee involvement and training. All parties involved in a construction or remodeling project can help reduce hazards with proper planning, training, and communicating how to create and maintain safe operations, according to OSHA.
Hazards in Retrofit Projects
When it comes to construction projects, a job site is a job site—right? Not necessarily. Although new construction and renovation projects do share similar hazards, such as working at heights that can lead to falls or using power tools that can cause injuries if used unsafely, retrofitting a building does present a few unique risks that facility executives and contractors need to keep in mind and discuss at the onset of a project.
“If you’re trying to separate between new and existing projects, I would say the age of the building can present unique hazards whether it be electrical or lead paint or asbestos, those types of things,” Cannon says.
An OSHA representative told retrofit that pre-planning is key in identifying hazards associated with building renovation projects:“Contractors often do not know exactly how a building was built, what materials were used or what is hidden behind a wall they need to open. Plans, specifications, as-built drawings or other pertinent information should be provided to the engineers, architects, and contractors to ensure they are aware of potential hazards before and during renovations. Projects generally include a demolition phase that involves tearing down interior walls and gutting plumbing, electrical, HVAC or other systems. Window replacements on multi-story buildings present many issues, including hazards from falls and falling objects and possible structural issues. These activities require particular attention to the structural stability of the systems as they are taken apart.”
Calculating Costs and Impacts
The uptick in severe and life-threatening injuries on the construction site comes at a significant cost across the board. From loss of life and property to economic and reputation damages, the failure to fund and enforce proper safety protocol during a construction project has far-reaching effects.
“It is pretty simple in my opinion,” Kliwinski says. “There are three impacts: humanitarian, financial and reputational. There is the humanitarian impact—you have the loss of life or disabling injury and the direct impact to the employees and their family. People are our greatest assets, and if we lose valuable employees—if you lose or disable a crane operator or manager or somebody who is functioning in a significant role and you’re a smaller com- pany—that’s going to have a detrimental effect on your company’s business.”
Kliwinski also notes regulatory fines, such as the more stringent ones from OSHA mentioned previously, can add up, as can workers’ compensation insurance premiums if violations or injuries are frequent. To offset those expenses, Kliwinski says some companies take on higher insurance deductibles to lower their premiums, which can be a costly mistake.
“If an injury occurs with those $500,000/$1 million or higher deductibles they have taken on, it could have a significant impact on the company’s business because they’re not profitable, or directly funding and paying for those large deductibles could have an adverse impact for the year,” he says.
Additionally, Kliwinski points out legal fees and lawsuits that may result from workplace injuries or death can put a tremendous burden on small businesses, in particular. Further, the loss of income from a poor safety record can also negatively impact a business.
“If they have a significant, catastrophic event that occurs on their facility or multiple serious events that occur, reputationally, they may suffer the consequences or not be eligible or considered for future work,” he says.