Working to
Prevent Injuries and Save Lives in Road Construction
BOTTOM-LINE BENEFIT IN
ROAD CONSTRUCTION:
Head Protection
Road
construction companies pay out nearly $19 million more for head/neck
injuries each year than it would cost them to equip all of their
hazard-exposed workers with hard hats. That is the bottom line
for road construction companies, according to figures compiled
from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the National Safety Council
(NSC), American Road and Transportation Builders Association
(ARTBA), and ISEA.
How so? Start with 574,000 hazard-exposed road construction workers in the private sector (ARTBA). Apply the 64.1% head-protection-usage rate among road construction workers (OSHA), meaning that 35.9% (206,000) are not using head protection. Multiply that number of workers by the cost to equip each one with an $8 hard hat, giving a total cost of $1.65 million to equip with hard hats all remaining road construction workers.
Now multiply the total number of 1998 private sector road construction head/neck injuries, which was 733 (BLS), by the $28,000 cost per on-the-job injury (NSC), yielding a total cost for road construction head and neck injuries of $20.5 million. Subtract the cost of equipping all unprotected workers from that figure to derive the $18.85 million more that road construction companies pay out for head/neck injuries.
"Wearing a hard hat will not protect against every potential blow to the head or neck, and we are not suggesting that it would," said ISEA President Dan Shipp. "What these figures do suggest is that road construction companies are spending a whole lot more to cover the costs of head and neck injuries each year than they would pay to equip their workers properly and make sure they are wearing their head protection." For details on the statistical basis of this cost-benefit analysis, contact ISEA's Joe Walker, (703) 525-1695 or jwalker@safetyequipment.org.
INTERNATIONAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT
ASSOCIATION
703-525-1695
fax 703-528-2148
1901 North Moore Street
Arlington, Virginia 22209-1762
USA