New Workers Most at Risk for Injury: Study

June 7, 2019

Nearly half of the construction workers in Tennessee who were injured over a recent two-year period had been on the job less than a year, according to a case study report from the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).

The Construction Industry Research and Policy Center (CIRPC) at the University of Tennessee found that 44.5 percent of the claims were from workers who had less than a year of experience in construction, with 30.1 percent from workers with less than six month of experience. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that 24 percent of construction workers are injured during their first year on the job.

Edward Taylor, study author and CIRPC executive director, told Safety & Health, “We saw in the literature that 100 years ago, a steel company reported that their employees with less than 30 days tenure had an injury rate of 12 times the rest of their employees. Here we are in 2019 and the results of our study show, in construction, 44.5 percent of injuries occur to employees in their first year.”

Taylor recommends putting additional emphasis on the on-boarding of new employees, along with pairing up new workers with an experienced mentor. Wearing PPE can also help reduce a number of eye and hand injuries.

Source: Safety & Health Magazine