The construction industry is imperative to the growth of the economy, to society, and to the community. From ensuring your water makes it to your faucet, making sure the bridges are structured to stand, paving new roads from NYC to LA, to building your new favorite restaurant, pickleball courts, or hotel, the construction industry is vital to our progression as a civilization.
In 2024, there were 1,032 fatalities in the construction industry, not including suicide as a cause of death1, and many of those deaths were preventable. Construction-related injuries happen frequently and can be significant and long-lasting, such as hearing loss, mobility problems, and respiratory issues2.
As we all can predict, the 2.1 trillion-dollar industry3 isn’t going anywhere–and we might be biased, but we don’t want it to. Construction employs 8 million people3 and provides various services that are integral to a continuously developing community.
Although these fatalities, time and time again, are preventable, without a clear focus on safety in construction, these deaths and injuries will continue to happen.
So, the question stands: how do we minimize risk, injuries, and fatalities, while maintaining construction, growth, and innovation?
The answer to this question is simple: a focus on safety.
There are many laws put in place by the U.S. Department of Labor (carried out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)) as well as required rules and regulations put forth by the general contractors themselves to ensure safety on jobsites. These are not guidelines but strict standards that all employees and subcontractors must adhere to.
Furthermore, there are resources available from nationally recognized organizations, such as Construction Safety Week– where general contractors unite to strengthen the industry standards and culture around safety. Reeves Young, Senior Project Manager in our Heavy Civil division Banks Folsom says, “[Construction Safety Week] is a time to reset, reflect, and learn about our safety achievements and shortfalls over the past year, and a time to plan how to make our working and personal lives safer in the future.”
At Reeves Young, our focus– the end-all, be-all– is getting you home safely to your family. We remind ourselves and our peers every day, “Why I Work Safe” with the pictures of loved ones in our safety vest pockets.
]
With all hands on deck and projects that are moving quickly, a million things are happening at once, and many things on a jobsite can get taken for granted. Folsom reminds us that slowing down and considering the ‘worst case scenario’ of each task you are performing will make you more mindful of the risks at hand and how to mitigate them. He says, “A near miss is to be treated just as seriously as an incident. One of the worst things you can have in your mind is, ‘Well, I got away with it last time!’”
For us at Reeves Young, construction safety takes precedence. Folsom says, “Every jobsite is different, and it can change drastically from day to day. Assessing each task individually instead of globally as one trade, or as one project, is a good way to ensure you aren’t being complacent with safety.”
Each day on site begins with a safety huddle, a refresh to each person on site to regard safety as their number one priority: to get home safely, and to get their co-workers home safely, too. On Reeves Young jobsites, you will see our commitment to safety through our safety pillar displays and key reminders to Work Safe, Home Safe—our tried and true Safety motto.
Our Safety Meetings are not your standard-meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email; these are dedicated time slots each morning, on every job site, to ensure safety plans are elaborated on through each task at hand. The goal is to engage the team and to provide opportunities for each person to speak up about foreseen safety risks. Though it might seem simple, this time allows for risks to be brought to light that others might not have noticed. Every day, thoughtful safety measures are reestablished and reinforced. “If [the task] cannot get done safely, it cannot get done at all.” Folsom continues, “This may mean taking the longer route to complete a task, but it is the correct route that will be the plan every time.”
One small action that all general contractors can adopt into their safety practices is maintaining a clean and tidy site. A clean site does more than make your project presentable; it can help expose potential hazards that otherwise might not have been seen.
When asked about the future of safety at Reeves Young, Folsom replies, “[We will] continue to incorporate a strong safety culture amongst our teams, from the preconstruction level, to support departments, to the field.”
To learn more about the Safety Culture at Reeves Young, visit www.reevesyoung.com/safety/.
1 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026, February 19). Table 3. fatal occupational injuries for selected occupations, 2020-24 – 2024 A01 results. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.t03.htm
2 Finnity, J., & Harlan, L. (2025, May 7). 34 Key Construction Safety Statistics. Procore. https://www.procore.com/library/construction-safety-statistics
3 Associated General Contractors of America. (2026). Construction data. Construction Data. https://www.agc.org/learn/construction-data#:~:text=Construction%20is%20a%20major%20contributor,worth%20of%20structures%20each%20year.