ConstructConnect Blog

It’s an interesting time for the construction industry. Growth has been strong the past several years, with U.S. construction spending now at an all-time high. Despite having weathered the storm of the Great Recession, the construction industry is still facing challenges, both old and new, moving forward.

There are a number of reasons owners and developers, both public and private, are turning to green and sustainable construction. Energy use reduction and water use reduction are among the top environmental issues being addressed with green and sustainable construction.

Of the 203,500 recorded injuries and illnesses suffered by workers in the construction industry in 2016, over 40% of them involved workers missing days away from work. Those 82,760 injuries and illnesses resulted in 22,880 sprains, strains and tears, 13,020 incidences of soreness or pain, 11,880 fractures, and 11,810 cuts, lacerations and punctures.

“The robots are coming to take our construction jobs!” There’s been a lot of media coverage over the past couple of years about how workers in many industries, construction included, will soon be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence (AI). A recent study by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) estimates that by 2057 robots could replace or displace 2.7 million jobs in construction.

OSHA has determined that there are four main safety hazards, excluding transportation incidents, that account for a majority of all construction worker deaths each year on the jobsite. Dubbed the “Fatal Four” by OSHA, they include falls, electrocutions, being struck by objects, and getting caught in or between hazards. In 2016, 63.7% of all fatalities at construction sites were from one of OSHA’s Fatal Four.

As we get ready to bid farewell to 2017, it’s time to release ConstructConnect’s list of “Top 5 Coolest Buildings” of the year. Criteria for inclusion on the list is simple. The building has to have been completed, topped out or opened within the calendar year and has to have some aspect that makes the building cool. This could be the architecture, sustainability elements, construction method, technology, or some combination of these elements.

3D printing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, has been making impressive advancements in a number of industries from manufacturing to medicine over the past few years. The construction industry hasn’t been immune to the potential benefits that 3D printing technology promises.

Construction industry fatalities rose 6% from 2015 to 2016, according to the 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released yesterday. The construction industry again had the highest number of fatalities in all industries with 991 worker deaths. The construction industry represented 19.9% of all worker deaths in 2016 and 22.2% of all private industry worker deaths.

The opioid crisis in the U.S. has become a public health emergency and it affects people from all walks of life and has invaded all areas of the country. The 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration reported that 10,933,000 people 18 or older had misused opioids, including heroin and prescription drugs, within the past year. More than half, 5,658,000, worked full-time jobs and another 1,581,000 were employed part-time.

Construction sites are one of the most dangerous workplaces in the country. The fatal injury rate for the construction industry is higher than the national average and the construction industry leads all injuries in workplace fatalities. In 2016, 991 of the 4,693 worker fatalities that occurred were in construction.