Construction Site Safety Report: 7 Times Safer with Best Practices

Associated Builders and Contractors recently released its 2025 Health and Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to construction site safety and health best practices.

The report shows the positive impacts of construction companies participating in ABC’s STEP® Health and Safety Management System. The system enables top-performing ABC members to achieve incident rates 658% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics construction industry average, reducing total recordable incident rates by 85%.

What the Research Shows

ABC researched more than 1 billion work hours completed by participants in the construction, heavy construction, civil engineering and specialty trades in 2024. It identified the following foundations of industry-leading construction site safety best practices:

  • New hire safety orientation: Companies that conduct an in-depth indoctrination of new employees into health and safety culture, systems and processes experience Total Recordable Incident Rates, or TRIR, 52% lower than companies that limit orientations to basic health and safety compliance topics. Additionally, Days Away, Restricted or Transferred, or DART, rates are reduced by 56%.
  • Substance abuse prevention programs: Robust substance abuse prevention programs and policies with provisions for drug and alcohol testing lead to a 52% reduction in TRIR and a 55% reduction in DART rates.
  • Frequency of toolbox talks: Companies that conduct daily, 15-to-30-minute toolbox talks reduce TRIR rates by 78% and DART rates by 79% compared to companies that hold them monthly.
  • Top management engagement: Employer involvement at the highest level of company management in safety best practices produces a 49% reduction in TRIR and a 52% reduction in DART rates.
  • Leading indicators: Tracking and reviewing activities carried out to prevent and control injuries, such as safety training, new hire safety orientation and substance abuse prevention, leads to a 59% reduction in TRIR and a 60% reduction in DART rates.

Transforming Construction Safety

“Transforming the status quo to set the expectation that all incidents are preventable creates a culture where health and safety are elevated to core values, a moral obligation for employers and employees,” said Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development.

“The 2025 Health and Safety Performance Report and STEP will help any contractor or supplier reinforce their commitment to the well-being of their workforce,” said Sizemore. “If we choose to lead, if we choose to commit and if we choose to transform, together we can ensure every construction worker goes home safer, happier, healthier and more fulfilled every single day.”

Established in 1989, STEP provides contractors and suppliers with a robust, no-cost framework for measuring health and safety data and benchmarking with peers in the industry.

For eight years, the Health and Safety Performance Report has captured results of member companies performing real work on real projects. The work identifies what comprises an industry-leading health and safety program. Participating firms measure their safety processes and policies and criteria for best practices through a detailed questionnaire. The goal is to implement or enhance safety programs that reduce jobsite incident rates.

Resources:

Download the latest report here.
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