If somebody asked what has been done to improve construction safety over the last 50 years, most people would point to OSHA oversight, which has made dangerous jobs safer through standards, training, inspections and accountability.
But, what if most of that dangerous work never had to be done in the field? That changes the conversation. Modular construction doesn’t replace OSHA, but it eliminates many of the hazards OSHA was charged with regulating.
To put it another way, OSHA manages risk, but modular construction eliminates it. Roof assembly is done under a roof. Floors, walls and ceilings are framed on level jigs and tables. Materials can be handled with equipment rather than manually. You don’t need as many rules around hazards that no longer exist.
Modular also brings speed to the conversation. It shaves months from work happening on the jobsite. Less time on-site means fewer worker hours, which means less time exposed to the opportunity for something to go wrong. Incident rates become lower.
With framing, roofing, finishing and equipment operations primarily taking place in a factory, there’s less need for field labor and less exposure to risk. Nothing good happens when a project takes longer. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Modular construction reduces jobsite risk.
With site-built projects, weather delays, contract stipulations and funding needs can lead to the timetables being rushed. That, in turn, leads to trades being stacked, crews put under pressure and more overtime hours.
But weather exposure is nonexistent in the factory; rather, workers enjoy a comfortable and ergonomic work environment free from many of the dangers driven by the elements. Modular’s speed of production creates both economic and safety advantages.
The safest construction project isn’t the one with the most safety rules; it’s the one with the least hazardous work performed in the field.
Factories are designed from the beginning for worker safety. While OSHA appears often on commercial projects, they rarely bother residential ones. Residential contractors may appreciate the lack of oversight on projects in the field, but that also means adherence to safety standards can become lax. Not so with modular: factories are manufacturing, not constructing, so OSHA inspects them. There is a strong likelihood that OSHA will appear at some point to verify that safety standards are in place and being enforced.
Modular factories also implement Lean manufacturing principles. Lean principles naturally result in improved safety. How? Because work is standardized. It’s done in repeatable processes. There is an organized work and material flow. There is reduced clutter and fewer unexpected conditions. Have you looked at a typical project site in the field? Traditional construction solves problems as they appear. A modular factory designs the process before manufacturing begins. Because of factory consistency, both errors and accidents are greatly reduced.
Did you know that, according to OSHA, construction laborers suffer one of the highest total volume of fatalities in the workforce? OSHA has made construction dramatically safer for not only laborers, but also for all workers since its creation, but the next great leap forward in construction worker safety won’t come from OSHA. It will come from changing how construction fundamentally happens.
Every roof framed in a factory is one less roof framed from a ladder in the field. Every other construction aspect that can be accomplished in the factory is one less thing to be done in the field. Weeks shaved off the construction process on-site means weeks of reduced jobsite exposure for workers and their employers. And that is the real promise of industrialized construction as it relates to worker safety.
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