Someone once said, “Better a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man be imprisoned.” It’s the same way about safety: Better a hundred projects be late and over budget than one person’s safety be compromised. No construction project is worth someone’s life.

Whenever I get in my car to drive anywhere, I always consider the fact that I could be killed while driving. Anyone with a remotely dangerous working condition should think the same: that you could be killed at work today. Contractors need to make the safety and well being of their workers the number-one priority of business. A company is only as good as its workers. Workers are more important than profits, contrary to some business philosophies.

Proper usage of safety gear is not enough. Contractors must instill a common-sense attitude among workers in dangerous positions. How many times have each of us injured ourselves out of simple clumsiness? Lives can be lost the same way in hazardous working conditions.

This annual supplement, High on Safety, offers practical information for contractors concerning safety but there is always an undercurrent of tragedy: Construction professionals die on the job and it doesn’t have to be that way. Accidents and tragedies happen. However, accidents and tragedies should be relegated to the accidental and the tragic. For the construction professional doing his job, a lifetime should await.

Be safe!