A new study from Dodge Data & Analytics, in partnership with the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) and United Rentals, reveals two critical trends for improving construction safety — jobsite technologies and the practice of Prevention through Design (PtD). The study, Safety Management in the Construction Industry 2017, is the third in a series of studies demonstrating the financial and project benefits that contractors reap from safety investments.

The study examined the degree to which contractors are deploying technologies that can help improve jobsite safety, such as building information modeling (BIM), mobile tools, and emerging technologies like drones and wearable devices, and how those technologies are already helping to improve safety. It shows that investment in safety has a positive impact on project budgets, schedules, quality, and business factors such as a contractor’s standing in the industry or ability to contract new work. Contractors reporting positive impacts see a nearly 5 percent reduction in project schedule and a 4 percent reduction in project costs, on average.