Cost-effectiveness of construction safety programme elements

Every year the construction industry accounts for a disproportionate injury rate when compared to the all-industry average. In recent years, incident rates have declined as a result of improvements in safety management. While there is a great deal of knowledge regarding the safety management strategies of highly effective construction firms, little is known about the cost-effectiveness of these strategies. Interviews with 26 representatives of construction firms headquartered in the US were undertaken to quantify the cost of implementing common safety programme elements by: (1) quantifying cost for each element per US$1 million of project scope; and (2) determining the distribution of safety funding to each element. Using these cost data and effectiveness ratings from previous research, the cost-effectiveness of 13 safety programme elements was quantified. The results indicate that the most cost-effective safety programme elements are subcontractor selection and management and upper management support and commitment. Alternatively, the least cost-effective elements are the employment of a full-time safety manager and record-keeping. The information presented in this paper may be used by practitioners to direct resource investments, strategically select a subset of safety programme elements when resources are limited, and to justify additional resource investment in accident prevention.