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Is the apparent decrease in injury and illness rates in construction the result of changes in reporting?

Laura S Welch1, Xiuwen Dong, Francoise Carre

  • 1Center to Protect Workers Rights, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.

International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
|April 13, 2007
PubMed
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Foreword: Progress in Construction Safety and Health.

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Construction injury rates may appear lower due to reporting issues, not actual safety improvements. Worker misclassification and underreporting obscure true injury trends, despite declining lost-time claims.

Area of Science:

  • Occupational Health
  • Workplace Safety
  • Construction Industry Studies

Background:

  • Reported injury rates in construction have declined significantly.
  • This decline may be influenced by changes in injury recording, employee classification, and underreporting.
  • Construction worker fatalities remain a persistent concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the accuracy of reported construction injury rates.
  • To identify factors contributing to potential underestimation of workplace injuries.
  • To analyze trends in lost-time injuries versus restricted work activity cases.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of injury data from large construction employers (1988-1999).
  • Examination of restricted work activity rates (1990-2000).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Review of worker misclassification in Massachusetts construction.
  • Comparison of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) logs with other data sources.

    • Main Results:

    • Lost-time injury rates for major construction employers dropped by up to 92%.
    • Rates of injuries involving restricted work activity increased from 0.7 to 1.2 per 100 full-time workers.
    • At least 14% of construction employers in Massachusetts misclassified workers, leading to unrecorded injuries.
    • OSHA logs were found to omit a substantial number of injuries identified through other means.

    Conclusions:

    • The apparent decrease in construction injury rates may be misleading.
    • Worker misclassification and underreporting significantly impact the accuracy of injury data.
    • Further investigation into reporting practices is crucial for understanding true workplace safety in construction.