Construction Insurance Bulletin

Of events with negative financial and commercial impacts, natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes are at the top of the list. In 1907, a massive earthquake in San Francisco touched off a financial panic that nearly turned into a full-scale depression. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cost an astounding $125 billion dollars in damages. The hurricane shut down nine oil refineries and another 30 oil drilling platforms.

Obviously, natural disasters can wreak havoc on all industries, not just oil and fishing. Small and large businesses are equally afraid of the effects a natural disaster will have on their balance sheets. The inability to recover quickly from a disaster can mean certain death for some business. This is why having a disaster recovery plan is so important. The proper plan can help business owners get their operations back on track without permanent losses.

Needs Assessment. To formulate a disaster recovery plan, the business needs to first assess their needs. One of our qualified insurance agents can go over the books together with the business owner and state clearly what requires coverage, such as loss of income, continuing operating expenses, or miscellaneous expenses after disaster strikes.

Document Organization. Organization is one of the most critical components to surviving a disaster intact. The right documents all gathered together and secured properly will save hundreds of hours later. Depending on the nature of the business and/or what industry it operates in, off-site backup of critical files might be called for. Commonly, insurance companies will insure the basic constituents of a business, such as business income. Business Interruption insurance will replace lost income as a result of the business being closed for whatever reason as the result of a disaster. This is why having documents organized properly is so important. The claims adjuster would need precise, detailed records of income and expenses in order to determine properly what the profits would have been had the business not closed due to disaster.

Although it is next to impossible to determine what the document list should be for all businesses, here are some general documents for which you should keep backups:

• Insurance policy contracts
• Information on all of the bank accounts associated with the business
• Leases
• Income tax return forms for the past three years
• Sales records
• Inventory lists

It is also wise to make a list of all of the important people the business would have to contact in the event of disaster. This list includes bankers, landlords, accountants, creditors, employees, customers, etc.

Evacuation Plans. Preparing an evacuation plan will aid the business executives and employees by telling them exactly how to proceed during an emergency. When forming the evacuation plan, the business must make sure that all employees have designated assigned roles that they will follow; this will help organize their efforts and keep things under control.

When the Worst Happens. After a disaster occurs, it is important to document the damage extensively. The business must inform their insurance company immediately that a disaster has occurred and that they have incurred damages and/or losses as a result. The business owners are responsible for the safety and well-being of all of their employees before, during, and after the disaster. If the building where the business has been located has been damaged, get the building inspected.

The business owners must survey the damage carefully. Photograph and videotape all damaged areas everywhere, whether inside or outside the building. If necessary, they can make initial repairs to prevent even greater damage, such as boarding up windows and holes in the ceilings and walls. Once the adjuster and local authorities approve the claims application, than repair work can begin.

You’ve heard the old adage about people not learning from history being doomed to repeat it? This is certainly applicable to the safety programs of businesses. If accidents are to be avoided, the business must learn how and why they happen in the first place. It’s only through this knowledge that businesses can prevent such accidents from recurring.

An accident investigation should be devised in a manner that will gather information thoroughly and objectively, not assign blame or point fingers carelessly. Accidents are rarely the result of one solitary causative agent. In fact, they generally involve a multitude of direct and indirect factors that result in human failure, mechanical failure, and/or poor work environment. Once a thorough investigation is completed, the business should effectively be able to develop new training and safety protocols to prevent the same incident from happening again. Here are 10 tips to assist you in conducting an investigation into an accident:

1. Always make sure any injured individuals receive appropriate first aid treatment and medical care.
2. Don’t disturb the area where the accident took place.
3. Secure the accident area.
4. Ensure the site is safe before beginning an investigation, but begin the investigation as soon as it is safe to do so to make sure that evidence hasn’t been disturbed and the incident is fresh on the minds of witnesses.
5. The safety program should define employee protocol for dealing with an accident site.
6. The safety program should also have an investigation guideline and checklist to ensure proper protocol adherence.
7. Materials needed to conduct an investigation should be readily available – camera, video recorder, personal protective equipment, notepads, pens and markers, accident and incident forms, checklists, measuring tape, evidence containers, and so forth. These should be used to document the site of the accident thoroughly, gather and record information, and preserve evidence.
8. All witnesses should be documented immediately and interviewed as soon after the accident as possible.
9. Anyone who used the equipment involved or that was near the accident scene just before or after the accident should also be documented immediately and interviewed as soon as possible.
10. Objective questions should be asked in a manner that will give a comprehensive snapshot of the accident, events leading up to the accident, and the conditions of the environment surrounding the accident. This should include supervisory instruction, equipment condition, work protocol, weather conditions, and such.

From the above, the business should be able to analyze the collected information and evidence and determine how and why the accident occurred. From there, the business will be able to create or adjust safety and training protocols to prevent future accidents.

Coinsurance clauses are commonly found in a Builder’s Risk Completed Value policy. As one might deduce merely from the name, a coinsurance clause involves the policyholder becoming a co-insurer of the risk of loss with the insurer. In other words, certain conditions would result in the insurance company not paying the total amount of loss, thereby leaving the policyholder to bear the remainder of the loss amount. The insured and the insurer jointly assume the risk.

Those unfamiliar with such a clause are probably wondering why any policyholder would even consider a coinsurance clause. The benefit of buying an insurance policy with such a clause is that the policyholder will usually have relatively low premiums compared with similar policies that don’t contain a coinsurance clause. That said, anyone considering a coinsurance clause should understand what it entails and requires, so that they aren’t taken by surprise with penalties should a loss occur.

A typical coinsurance clause found in a Builder’s Risk Completed Value policy will say that the insurer will not pay more for any loss than the proportion that the limit of insurance bears to the value of the structure described in the declarations as of the structure’s date of completion.

The way a coinsurance clause works with the policy limit is often a source of confusion for policyholders. Take a loss of $20,000 with a policy limit of $100,000 for instance. It would superficially appear as though the insurer would be responsible for the total loss. However, once the coinsurance clause is figured into the equation, the insurer might not be responsible for paying the total loss amount. This will depend on the policyholder maintaining enough insurance to avoid the coinsurance penalty.

If the coinsurance is applied, it might look something like this: Still using the $100,000 policy and $20,000 worth of damage from above, the completed value of the project will be determined as $120,000 at the time of loss. The value of the $100,000 policy is only 80% of the $120,000 actual value of the project. So, the insurer is only responsible to pay $16,000, which is 80% of the $20,000 worth of damage.

Anytime the policyholder receives a lesser sum than what the full value of the claim is because of a shortfall between the completed value of the project and the policy limit, it’s termed a coinsurance penalty. The discrepancy between the two numbers can be the result of a number of mistakes made by the policyholder. Policyholders often make the mistake of failing to report when expected costs are surpassed. Any increased completed value must be shown in the policy limit when costs overrun original figures. The best way to make sure the policy limit is updated is by keeping your insurance agent apprised to the overruns so that the appropriate changes can be made.

All too often a policyholder makes the mistake of setting their limit of insurance based on the amount of the construction loan for the structure. Most of the time, the completed value of the project is greater than the amount of the construction loan. An example would be a significant portion of a building project being funded by cash, but not computing the cash amount when totaling the completed value. If the insurance is only for the financed amount, then the policyholder will suffer a coinsurance penalty for any losses.

Another common mistake occurs when the policyholder doesn’t include profit and overhead in the completed value. These are generally figured at 10% for each. If not accounted for, this can cause a substantial coinsurance penalty.

Sometimes, it’s what shouldn’t be included that could lead to problems. Land value, excavations, and underground work, for example, shouldn’t be included in the completed value. These aren’t covered losses on typical policy forms. So, the policyholder would just be paying additional costs for items that wouldn’t be covered during loss.

When it comes to Workers Compensation claims, companies are looking constantly for ways to reduce claims and reduce costs.

Ascribing the cost of Workers Compensation claims to applicable internal departments can encourage supervisors and managers to pay more attention to training and safety programs and more carefully monitor injured employees returning to work. Some companies have even deducted the claim cost from the budget of the ascribed department instead of a general company fund as an additional incentive to curb Workers Compensation costs. Through implementing a few procedures that place Workers Compensation expenses directly on internal departments, employers have more control over prevention and injury management measures that can decrease the severity and frequency of workplace injury. The reduced claims and Workers Compensation premiums add up to a substantial amount of savings.

Safety goals can be met by communicating directly with all potential Workers Compensation employees. Use a claim and injury history to identify high-risk employee groups. Then, on a departmental level, discuss the injury management process with employees. Communication will improve as employees are given a chance to discuss how they feel the job could be performed with less risk of injury. It also gives the employer an opportunity to modify safety procedures or dangers in the work environment, such as faulty equipment or inadequate work protocols that are identified by employees.

A common problem related to workplace injuries is a lack of prompt reporting. Too often supervisors don’t appropriately acknowledge workplace accidents. The hope is that the incident will not result in time off of work or medical expenses. However, putting an initial injury off and not reporting it immediately often actually results in increased costs. Managers and supervisors need to know that they aren’t saving money when they don’t report injuries immediately. One study of more than 50,000 temporary total disability and permanent partial disability claims showed:

• Injuries reported one to two weeks following the incident were 18% more expensive than those reported within a week of the incident.
• Injuries reported three to four weeks after the incident were 30% more expensive than those reported within a week of the incident.
• Injuries reported after four weeks of the incident were 45% more expensive than those reported within a week of the incident.

Showing supervisors and managers statistics such as these will help to ensure timely injury reporting, especially if Workers Compensation costs will be coming out of the departmental budget. Although the goal is prevention of workplace injury, once an employee has been injured, the objective should turn to a timely and safe return to work. This can best be achieved if both employer and employee share a desire to obtain the most effective care, which will help to expedite recovery and a safe return to the job.

Since each department is faced with the claim cost coming out of their own budget, managers and supervisors can take a more active role in assisting injured employees returning to work. For example, instead of the usual claim adjuster or attorney contacting the injured employee, the company concern can be conveyed through the department head(s).

One last element is fraudulent claims. Although deliberate fraudulent claims are a rarity, they do exist. These fraudulent claims will be much more difficult to file when Workers Compensation costs are analyzed departmentally.

Accidents are going to happen. There simply isn’t a way to prevent all accidents and eliminate all claims. But, it is realistic to reduce the frequency and severity of workplace injuries by making the department responsible directly, whether by penalty or by reward, for a safe work environment.

In a one-week period in September 2010, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced eight citations against employers; penalties totaled close to $1 million. The agency fined a picture frame manufacturer for not protecting workers’ hearing, allowing combustible dust to accumulate, and blocking exit routes. An excavating contractor is paying a six-figure fine for failing to protect workers against cave-ins. A painting contractor’s scaffolding was missing railings, bracing and access ladders. Because OSHA had cited the company for these violations before, it levied a fine exceeding $200,000.

Clearly, failing to comply with OSHA regulations can be costly for employers. However, by implementing a few new procedures and attitudes, a company can reduce the chances that its name will end up in an OSHA news release.

Improve record keeping. Think of good documentation as your first defense against an OSHA inquiry. Inspectors who find information gaps in the OSHA 300 log (the record of work-related injuries and illnesses) may initiate a full-scale safety audit of the business. If your business has deficiencies in its logs for the past three to five years, devote some time to correcting them. Personnel files and Workers Compensation loss records can provide much of the missing information.

Focus on ergonomics. OSHA has announced that it will pay special attention to musculoskeletal problems. Businesses that seek out ways to prevent repetitive motion disorders will avoid citations and penalties. They will also pay lower Workers Compensation insurance premiums in the long run. Analyze how workers are performing their tasks and look for ways to reduce the strain on their joints, necks and backs.

Fix the routine violations first. Some safety issues are simple and cost little or nothing to correct. For example:

• Blocked exits
• Lack of protective equipment, such as gloves and safety goggles
• Poor housekeeping
• Improper storage of materials such as flammable liquids

These problems can accumulate over time if management is not paying attention. Operations with large numbers of these violations have paid substantial penalties to OSHA, so monitoring and correcting them is essential.

The process of erecting a new building involves thousands of large and small decisions. These range from where to build, the building’s size and shape, materials, appearance, windows, heating and cooling systems, and so on. All of these decisions affect the quality of the finished building, the amount of maintenance it will require in the future, the cost of using it, its appeal to prospective tenants, and its ultimate market value. Design decisions also have a major influence on another area that might not be readily apparent to the planners: The safety of the people performing the construction work. Safety professionals can often trace the causes of construction accidents back to the way the planners designed the structure. Therefore, it is critical that contractors have involvement in the discussions about building design. Many individuals play roles in the design process, including:

• The project’s owner, who decides whether to erect a new building, how the company will use it, what the budget is and what the timeline for construction will be. The owner chooses the location after securing any required governmental approvals and possibly buying land; the location decision by itself could influence job site safety. An urban location will have less space for erecting platforms and operating equipment than will a suburban or rural location.
• Architects and engineers, who take the owner’s concept and turn it into detailed plans for the new building. They will design the building around the owner’s priorities, and those priorities may affect safety. For example, the owner might want an energy-efficient building that emphasizes natural light rather than electric lights, so the architects might include skylights in the design. The resulting holes in the roof increase the risk of falls.
• The general contractor, who will select subcontractors, materials and suppliers, and manage the project. The GC’s staff can advise the owner, architects, and engineers on the safety implications of some of the design decisions, such as how access to the site affects the placement and stability of equipment.

Several design considerations affect the safety of a project, including:

• The building’s structure. The structural material (steel, wood, concrete, brick) will have safety implications beyond its suitability for the particular building. Steel beams and bricks can strike workers, crush fingers, and cause back injuries when workers attempt to lift them. Exposure to concrete can injure a worker’s skin, and the dust can cause respiratory and eye problems. Wood creates similar problems with dust, and workers can seriously injure themselves using power saws, drills and other woodworking tools.
• Paints, varnishes and other coverings. Fumes from these substances can make workers ill; prolonged skin contact with them might cause burns.
• Sub-grade levels, such as basements and underground parking garages. The sides of excavations can collapse on top of workers.
• Whether certain components can be fabricated prior to installation in the building. This reduces the length of time workers are exposed to the installation hazards.

Because owners, architects, and engineers have the creation of a quality building within budget as their primary concern, contractors might have to raise their awareness of safety issues. Having the contractors involved in the design phase will allow for addressing potential safety issues before they occur, saving time and money for the owners and preventing painful injuries to workers. Also, the contractors will be aware in advance of those hazards that the design could not eliminate, so they can identify the safeguards they will need to have in place on the job. Even the best designs will present dangers to workers, but effective communications among all the players in the project should minimize the hazards.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, since 1992, 600 to 847 workers per year have fallen to their deaths while on the job. Falls accounted for 14% of workplace fatalities and a number of catastrophic injuries in 2009. Falls on construction sites also cost contractors and their insurance companies enormous amounts of money for Workers Compensation medical and disability benefits and for liability settlements and judgments. It therefore makes moral and financial sense for contractors to take precautions to prevent falls from happening. This means identifying where the exposures to falls exist, implementing fall protection, and reducing injuries from falls that do occur. Almost any construction project will have some exposure to roofs with no barriers to keep workers from falling off, holes in floors and roofs, and openings in walls. To reduce the exposure to these hazards:

• Use guardrails, safety nets, or safety harnesses tied off to lifelines, or a combination of them, whenever workers have an exposure to drops of six feet or more.
• Cover or barricade floor holes as soon as possible after they are created.
• Construct floor hole covers to hold twice the combined weight of the employees, equipment, and materials that might be on them at one time.

Workers on scaffolds have to maneuver around the materials and equipment with which they are sharing space. Without adequate protection, it is far too easy for a worker to lose his balance or step the wrong way and fall. To prevent this from happening, contractors should:

• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for building the scaffold.
• Install guardrails on all open sides and ends.
• Consider using safety harnesses connected to lifelines when the fall potential is 10 feet or more.
• Provide access to the scaffold only from the structure, another scaffold, some type of hoist, or safely positioned ladders, ramps or other walkways.
• Prohibit workers from climbing the scaffold cross-braces to gain access.

Steel rebar protruding from the ground can cause major injuries or death to workers who fall on them. Contractors should use these protections to prevent impalement:

• Install fall prevention or protection measures, such as guardrails, harnesses and safety nets.
• Guard the protruding rebar ends with caps designed to provide impalement protection or with pieces of lumber.
• Bend the protruding ends so that they are not upright.

In 2009, one out of every five fatal falls was from a ladder. Portable ladders can move or slip off their footings while workers are on them. They can also tip over while on uneven ground, or a worker can lose his balance if the ladder is unsteady. To prevent this from happening:

• Inspect ladders to verify that they are in good condition. Watch for broken or cracking rungs, side rails, feet and locks.
• Position ladders so that the side rails extend three feet or more above the landing. * Tie off the side rails to some type of rigid support at the top. If it is not possible for the side rails to extend three feet above the top, attach a grab device to the top of the ladder.
• Ensure that the ladder will not slip when the worker places weight on it.
• Do not place weights on ladders that exceed their load capacities.

Contractors should work with their insurance companies’ loss control consultants to implement effective safety programs. Our insurance agents can provide timely data about your Workers Compensation and Liability insurance claims. Although safety measures might seem like an expense, they help control insurance costs and retain good workers by making the contractor a safe company for which to work.

The recent recession has been devastating to home builders and the subcontractors who work for them. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of new homes built dropped by 59% between 2005 and 2009, a decrease of more than 1 million homes per year. This huge shortfall in work has left those residential contractors that are still in business looking to reduce expenses. Because insurance premiums can be a significant cost, many contractors have considered dropping coverages. Some coverages, such as Workers Compensation, are often required by law and cannot be cut. However, some Liability insurance policies, including Umbrella policies, are not required, and some contractors might consider reducing their Umbrella coverage or dropping it altogether. However, doing so could have some serious consequences for the future of the business

Umbrella policies perform two important functions. First, they cover many types of losses that the insured business’s primary Commercial General Liability insurance does not. For example, many insurance companies that provide CGL policies have added terms that eliminate coverage for claims arising out of the use of “Chinese drywall.” This material allegedly rots, causes health problems for a home’s occupants, and damages sensitive property such as electronics and high-value jewelry. Suppose that a contractor installed this drywall in 20 homes in a year and half of the homeowners made claims. The contractor would be facing 10 lawsuits, none of which the primary CGL policy would cover. However, the Umbrella policy could conceivably “drop down” and cover these claims.

More commonly, Umbrellas provide additional coverage when catastrophic claims exhaust the amounts of insurance available under the primary liability policies. Because catastrophic claims are relatively rare, insurance companies are willing to provide higher amounts of insurance for fractions of the cost of the primary coverage. However, when these claims happen, the amounts involved can be staggering. Suppose a contractor’s worker at the site of a new development of a dozen homes flicks what he thinks is an extinguished cigarette into a pile of trash. The trash ignites, spreads to the home on which he is working, and the wind carries the sparks to adjoining homes, damaging every one of the new units. The contractor might be legally liable for all of that damage, and the costs could quickly eat up the coverage available under the CGL policy. The Umbrella would pick up the balance, saving the contractor from financial ruin.

Injuries to other contractors’ employees on a job site can also be a source of large losses, particularly if an accident kills an employee. Unfortunately, job site deaths are common. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported the following incidents that occurred between May and July of 2010:

• A roofing worker in Georgia died after falling 13 feet off a roof.
• A roof collapse in Ohio killed one worker and sent two others to the hospital.
• An Ohio worker was crushed to death when a dumpster shifted forward off a forklift and fell on him.

A general contractor or a contractor responsible for safety precautions on the site will probably become the target of lawsuits stemming from incidents like these, and the ensuing settlements will probably overwhelm the primary Liability insurance coverage.

The insurance industry does not have a standard Umbrella policy, so it is important to review each one with our professional insurance agents to determine how it will apply to different types of losses. Also, a self-insured retention (similar to a deductible) will apply to losses the primary policy does not cover. However, having an Umbrella policy could mean the difference between surviving a large loss and going out of business.

Liability insurance policies include provisions, known as “exclusions,” that limit or eliminate coverage. Insurance companies put exclusions in policies for various reasons: Because another type of policy covers that kind of loss, to limit the cost of the insurance, and because some types of losses are so severe that they are uninsurable (for example, losses resulting from a war). Many exclusions eliminate coverage for some incidents or things but give it back for others. The Commercial General Liability policy (CGL) does not cover losses for which the insured assumed liability under a contract, but it gives back coverage for liability assumed under “insured contracts,” as the policy defines that term. However, there are some exclusions, called “absolute exclusions,” that eliminate coverage entirely with no give-back. Left unaddressed, these exclusions can leave a business exposed to large uninsured losses.

Insurance companies did not create these exclusions to cheat their customers. Rather, over the years they found that courts were interpreting policies in ways that the companies had not intended. In the 1970s and early 1980s, companies used wording such as, “Coverage does not apply to,” or “to any claim based upon.” They thought this language clearly stated that they did not intend to cover certain losses. Some courts disagreed, found the wording to be ambiguous, and ordered the companies to pay the claims anyway. Because the companies had not expected to pay these claims, they had not charged premiums to cover them. Given the choice between increasing their premiums to cover the losses and tightening up the exclusions’ language to make them more effective, the companies changed the wording.

For example, during the 1970s, courts ruled that liability policies covered pollution incidents, much to the dismay of the insurance companies that issued them. Consequently, the standard CGL policy now states that it does not apply to injury or damage arising out of the “actual, alleged or threatened discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release or escape” of pollutants at or from a premises, site or location that any entity insured under the policy ever owned, occupied, rented or borrowed. Further, it eliminates coverage for pollutants the insured transported, sites where it stored them, or brought to a job site by the insured or its contractor. The companies have attempted to make this exclusion as precise and unambiguous as possible so that they will not receive future surprises in court.

Other types of Liability insurance, such as Employment Practices Liability and Errors & Omissions policies, now have exclusions that are similarly broad in scope. They may include wording that excludes coverage for losses “directly or indirectly “based on, attributable to, arising out of, resulting from, or in any manner relating” to a particular act or hazard. Again, the purpose of this language is to eliminate any possibility of unintended coverage.

These exclusions potentially can leave an organization with no coverage at all for what might be a catastrophic event. If an Employment Practices Liability policy excludes coverage for anything that the insurance company might construe as a bodily injury, then the organization will have no protection against a claim for emotional distress, which can be the most expensive part of an employment practices loss. The absolute pollution exclusion can eliminate coverage for incidents that occurred many years ago at a property the insured owned but never occupied.

To reduce the chances of uninsured losses, work closely with our insurance agents to identify potential coverage gaps and possible solutions, such as a separate Pollution Liability policy. The additional cost of these policies is small compared to the financial damage an uninsured loss could inflict. With appropriate insurance in place to fill the gaps, an organization can survive a serious incident.

Construction accidents have wide-ranging effects on a contractor’s business. They cause pain and suffering for employees, hurt the morale of other employees, deprive the business of the injured employee’s talent and skill, hurt productivity, require paperwork, increase Workers Compensation costs, and possibly subject the business to penalties from regulators. It makes both moral and good business sense for a contractor to implement safety measures. When choosing the specific protections to put in place, the contractor should consider a number of factors to ensure the effectiveness of the program.

The contractor should examine the reasons why an unsafe condition exists. If the contractor integrates safety considerations into all procedures, injuries will become less likely and less severe. Therefore, it is important to look into the reasons why, for example, a scaffold was improperly guarded, why workers using cutting tools were not wearing eye protection, why a crane operator left the engine running while he was out of the cab, or why workers used power drills with frayed electrical cords. These are symptoms of a workplace culture that overlooks safety concerns. Sending the right messages and incentives about safety will gradually change the culture and reduce accidents.

With a new system and culture in place, the contractor can focus on specific hazards, such as:

• Power lines overhead. Cranes, cherry pickers and even ladders can contact live power lines, possibly resulting in fatal injuries. Workers will always feel pressure to complete a job as quickly as possible, but if they rush too much, they might ignore dangerous conditions overhead.
• Power and gas lines underground. The consequences of striking these are potentially as catastrophic as those of striking overhead lines. Ruptured gas lines, combined with a heat source, can lead to explosions. Workers should never dig in an area until they have verified that it is safe to do so.
• Fire hazards. Many fire prevention measures are simple to implement. Regularly cleaning up jobsite debris, keeping combustible material away from the structure, and enforcing no-smoking rules near combustibles will all help prevent fires. Equally important is to have effective procedures for informing workers of a fire and evacuating them. The HVAC contractor with men working on the 10th floor of a building must have a plan for notifying them and getting them out of there if a fire breaks out on the 7th.
• Lifting hazards. Inexperienced, incompetent or pressured work crews might use a crane to move something that outweighs its lifting capacity. They might also operate the crane on uneven ground or with inadequate supports. The result can be a crane collapse that causes extensive property damage and can cause serious injuries or deaths.
• Falling hazards. Falls from heights as low as 10 feet can seriously injure or kill workers. Contractors must pay attention to the condition and stability of ladders, the adequacy of safety rails on scaffolds, the consistent use of safety harnesses, and the weight of materials placed on scaffolds.
• Confined spaces. Crawl spaces, underground tanks, sewers and similar areas can expose workers to lack of oxygen and toxic or explosive gases, all of which can kill them quickly. Contractors must enforce rules for testing the atmosphere of confined spaces, closure of lines supplying the space, providing ventilation, and usage of safety harnesses and lifelines.

Construction is dangerous work, but contractors can control the dangers with planning and effort. Those that do reap the benefits of loyal workers, increased productivity, good reputations and lower insurance costs. With focus, safety can become a regular part of the business and a profit driver.