Factors That Influence Safety Performance of Specialty Contractors

TLDR

Specialty contractors perform most of the construction work, making their safety performance a major industry concern. The study aims to identify factors that significantly influence the safety performance of specialty contractors. The study surveyed three distinct specialty contractor groups: trade contractors in southern Nevada, roofing contractors in Florida, and regional offices of a large nationwide mechanical contractor. The study found that safety performance is consistently influenced by factors such as reduced worker turnover, employee drug testing, and training via contractor associations, while safety incentive programs had no clear benefit and larger company size was linked to better performance.

Abstract

In the construction industry specialty contractors perform most of the construction work. Given their impact on the industry, the safety performance of specialty contractors should be of concern to the construction industry. This paper describes a study conducted to identify factors that significantly influence the safety performance of specialty contractors. The study was composed of separate surveys of three different specialty contractor populations—a variety of trade contractors located primarily in southern Nevada, roofing contractors in the state of Florida, and the regional offices of a large, nationwide mechanical contractor. While there appeared to be contradictions between the surveys in some areas, the study concluded that specialty contractor safety performance was consistently influenced, in part, by a number of factors. The factors shown to positively affect safety performance include minimizing worker turnover, implementing employee drug testing with various factors initiating the testing, and training with the assistance of contractor associations. Safety incentive programs were not necessarily associated with better safety performance. Growth in company size was found to be associated with improved safety performance as well.