Construction and agriculture are probably the two industries that affect most people’s lives directly and indirectly, and yet are also the two industries that pretty much everyone regards as being the most dangerous.
There are some specific reasons for this within each industry, but both share a significant number of the same risks, types of accident, health and safety regulations, and similar ways to keep people safe.
According to the US Bureau Of Labor Statistics, almost a fifth of all worker fatalities in the US were in the construction and extraction industry in 2022. Even more worrying is that this is an 11 % increase over the previous year.
The CDC, through NIOSH, has flagged up how dangerous agriculture is as an industry, especially because of the involvement of family members who often live and work on the the farm or ranch.
This site aims to bring the two industries together, and by sharing best practise within each industry and within different counties, can help eliminate some of these risks, minimise others, and work towards a more safety conscious world within which both industries operate.
Risk Management
Risk management is at the heart of all types of safe environments. The process involves identifying risk, eliminating risk where possible, minimising other levels of risk and assessing which of the risks that are left are acceptable and which are not.
This is not about being risk averse. It is about ensuring the safety of people, their health, their lives and the lives of their families.
Within these two industries, there are certain areas that are known to be high risk, and where a significant number of accidents and fatalities happen. An awareness of the risks within these areas can generate specific solutions that can minimise or eliminate potential hazards to workers and members of the public.
The most common ones are :
- Falls
- Struck by accidents
- Electrical hazards
- Caught in / between hazards
- Crush hazards
- Trips and falls
- Trenching and excavation hazards
- Noise exposure
- Material handling
- Confined spaces
- Chemicals and hazardous substances
- Fire hazards
- Collapse of structures
- Heat stress
- Equipment
- Training
- Communication
- Emergency Response Preparedness
- Traffic hazards
- Respiratory dangers
Farm Safety – General
Working on a farm, ranch or any type of agricultural business carries a number of additional risks to those listed above. Farms can seem quite romantic in one sense, and this often leads to a mistaken impression about safety and hazard risks .
Below are some of the main areas of a farm or ranch which merit special attention with regard to health and safety concerns.
Environment
The physical environment within which both industries operate lays the framework for everything else. Everything related to buildings, land, people, machinery etc operate within the specific environment of the work being carried out.
Construction Environment
Construction or building work can range from a huge infrastructure project through to building a new extension to a home or even basic DIY work. The principles of safety however are the same however, as are some of the risks, especially regarding things like electrical hazards.
Agriculture Environment
When people think of agriculture, they inevitably think of farms or ranches, and these can vary in size from a few acres up to hundreds of thousands of acres. What the land produces can vary by animal, plant or seed. The physical environment, however, poses significant risks for all these, especially given that most people will live on the farm as well.
Working conditions
Within the environment, the actual working conditions play a significant part in determining how safe the environment is.
Working conditions can cover issues such as litter and debris, safe levels of lighting, proper sanitation facilities for staff, access to rest areas, pressure to work overtime, PPE and general levels of fatigue.
People
Construction Workforce
People who work in construction work in a multitude of different roles, and range from the original architects, through to building suppliers, electricians, plumbers etc. The workforce is normally predominantly male, meaning that is often a highly macho environment, which can carry significant risks of its own.
Agriculture Workforce
The workforce on a farm varies between full time permanent workers, either doing practical work or backup admin roles. Staff may also include family members, seasonal workforce, migrant labour and specialist subcontractors.
Working on a farm can often be quite an isolated role, and there are numerous risks associated with this, especially those connected with mental health and communication difficulties.
Machinery and Equipment
Both construction and agriculture use many different types of machinery and equipment, ranging from huge industrial cranes, to trucks, to diggers, to tractors, ATV’s and power tools.
Neither of these industries could operate without virtually all of this machinery and equipment.
The main risks tend to come from either people not using the equipment properly, not being properly trained on how to use it, defective parts of the equipment not being replaced or a general lack of care about how the machinery should be operated.
The main types of machinery and equipment used in construction and agriculture include :
- Excavators
- Bulldozers
- Cranes
- Scaffolding
- Loaders – Backhoe Loaders, Track Loaders, Wheel Loaders,
- Backhoes
- Skid Steers
- Articulated Trucks
- Concrete Equipment
- Trenchers
- Pavers
- Dumpsters
- Generators
- Light Towers
- Forklifts
- Access Platforms – Ariel Lifts
- Tractors
- ATV’s
- Power Tools
Management
The role of management in construction especially, is crucial, largely because there are often so many different roles that workers have, and different companies operating within the construction process.
These different companies may all be contributing to the overall project, but are likely to have separate management structures, as many of them will also be subcontractors.
Making sure that all the different companies are working together, and ensuring proper safety standards can be a demanding and challenging task. This is an area where safety often gets overlooked, as time pressures often mean that corners get cut, resulting in additional and often unacceptable risks.
Agriculture and farming have similar challenges in terms of managing people, especially given that many farm employees will also be family members, or staff who have worked for the farm for a long period of time. This can generate problems within management largely around boundaries, where relationships have to be handled extremely carefully
Behaviour
The construction industry is regarded as being quite a macho industry, simply because of the large number of men who work in it.
Often, there is quite a lot of pressure within the male workforce to behave in ways that is either inappropriate or unsafe to each other, to women, to migrant labour or to the general public.
Within agriculture, the problems regarding behaviour tend to be slightly different. The workforce is often quite diverse and isolated, and expected to work on their own initiative a lot of the time. As such they tend to get to know their jobs quite well and can often do them completely unsupervised.
Whilst this has many benefits, it also runs the risk off people getting complacent or sloppy, either through repetition of tasks, or through general malaise or fatigue. This can often result in safety being compromised, simply because people do not think things through properly.
Training
Training can be either formal or informal, and historically in both these industries has tended to be more informal. This has changed somewhat in recent years where formal training programmes and apprenticeships have become more common, and in some cases have become a legal requirement for specific types of jobs.
Proper training, however it is done, is a major factor in making sure that potential risks or dangers are minimised or eliminated. This applies not just to the actual training itself, but ongoing monitoring that the training is being properly implemented, and that additional support is provided wherever needed.
This is especially critical where the work involved, be it around machinery, signage, electrical components etc needs to be continually monitored and updated.
Chemicals and Hazardous Materials
Not all chemicals are hazardous, but the majority of them that are used in both construction and agriculture have the potential to be dangerous, both to people’s health and to the environment.
It is one of the areas of risk management that it is most important to get right, both in terms of the type of chemicals being used, labelling and signage, proper training, proper storage etc.
Failure to do so can lead to catastrophic results that are normally avoidable if the proper precautions are put in place.
PPE
People often think nowadays of PPE as referring to masks and other equipment used in hospitals and clinical facilities. However, it is important to remember what PPE actually stands for, which is personal protective equipment, and it means specifically that.
In construction this often applies to things like hard hats, viz jackets, proper footwear through to specialist equipment when handling chemicals or other substances.
There is often a legal duty to make sure that different types of PPE are used, and this may be the obligation of the employer, employee or both. Whether it is a legal duty or not it is in everyone’s best interests that appropriate PPE is always provided, and that everyone makes sure it is used in the way it is intended to be used.
Some of this can also apply to agricultural work, as well as things like ensuring wearing appropriate clothing is worn that cannot get caught up or entangled in machinery.
Appropriate clothing may vary within a farm and may also vary by age. Appropriate PPE also needs to be provided and worn when doing any type of electrical work and all work around chemicals and hazardous materials.
Mental Health
The mental health of any workforce is always important, and its significance has grown in recent years.
In construction, the nature of the work creates real pressures, and often time constraints lead to additional pressure in terms of long hours, fatigue, frustration and short tempers, all of which generate safety risks.
In agriculture, lone working and isolation generate real pressures for people, and given that farms and ranches are often family owned, difficulties around boundaries, both personal and professional, can create real tensions and problems within a home.
The idea of mental health can often be thought of in terms of emotional health, and a lot of the risks to the individual can be easily identified. Managing these risks is not always as simple, but it is important that the well-being of all employees is put at the heart of all health and safety policies and practises.
According to the CDC, the construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates in the USA, compared to other professions.
Technology
The speed at which technology is changing society is also playing a crucial role in both the construction and agriculture industries.
Much of the monitoring in health and safety performance is done through specialised software, on a real time basis. This allows much more effective risk management policy and allows for specific hazards to be more easily identified and managed.
The reliance on technology also makes all types of work more susceptible to different types of cybercrime, which can have a critical effect on all the workforce involved.
In agriculture, the use of technology changes both the practical aspects of work, such as Kubota’s autonomous tractor, through to highly specialised weather reports and environmental conditions that allows for more productive and efficient crop production.
Animals can also be better protected and managed within seasonal boundaries, and workers can be better protected against weather conditions of all types.
Motivation
Motivating a workforce of any size can be a difficult and time-consuming task, both in terms of operation and in terms of long term stability.
Within the industries of construction and agriculture, being able to motivate staff is crucial in terms of keeping them aware and alert to potential risks and dangers, both for themselves and their co-workers.
The nature of the environments within both industries raises challenges that would not normally apply within an office or internal environment. Given that most construction and agricultural work takes place outside or in an open-air environment, motivating staff needs to be given the highest priority.
Ways of motivation can include not only better pay, but also good working conditions, a considerate management team, involvement of the workforce in making decisions that affect them, proper union recognition, decent holidays and holiday pay and a general sense that the management structure values them as people as well as workers.
Insurance
Insurance can play a valuable role in terms of ensuring the safety of everyone involved in both the construction and agricultural industries.
A construction project will need to be fully aware of whose responsibility the various aspects of the work relate to, and that proper insurance policies are in place to protect everyone involved.
This sort of insurance is often some type of liability insurance, and must cover not only the workforce, but also any liability to the public as well. Insurance may also need to cover physical buildings and equipment, as well as things like project delays, overspends, business interruption etc.
In agriculture and farming, insurance also plays a crucial role. Often it is around plant and machinery, as well as buildings, employer liability and insurance against things such as crop failure.
Insurance can also play a crucial role in helping employers identify risk. Risk is the business of insurance companies, and one way is to make use of their experience and understanding of risk.
The use of any type of proposal form, either paper or electronic, highlights what the insurance company considers the main areas of risk. The construction company or companies would be well advised to take note of this, as would anyone involved in agriculture, farming or any specialised area of these two industries.