In the US, the agency responsible for workplace safety is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

As a part of the US Department of Labor, the OSHA aims to protect US workers. The OSHA does this by putting on regulations, providing training and education, and more.

While the OSHA is effective in reducing accident frequency and severity, they achieved this through strictly enforcing restrictions. This significantly slows down construction projects. Going through every related regulation is extremely time-consuming. Having to manage the extra documents from OSHA can get overwhelming over time as well.

The extra workload put onto construction firms to ensure safety is draining, yet necessary. A shift towards a more efficient means of management is expected under these circumstances.

Construction companies are adopting digital construction management in recent years. More specifically, many companies are starting to use construction software such as Procore or Autodesk to assist in construction.

For a close inspection, here are some ways which construction software can help with passing certain regulations from OSHA.

Employee Training

One of OSHA’s most important requirements is for companies to provide their employees resources. 

OSHA’s standard 1926.21(b)(1) demands that employers should “avail himself of the safety and health training programs the Secretary provides.” 

Most importantly, the employers, according to standard 1926.21(b)(2), “shall instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his work environment to control or eliminate any hazards or other exposure to illness or injury.”

In a nutshell, the employer should educate him/herself of construction safety, as well as instruct the employees on this subject.

On top of requiring proper training, the OSHA prohibits employers from having uncertified employees work under potentially dangerous conditions. OSHA’s standard 1926.20(b)(4) states that “the employer shall permit only those employees qualified… to operate equipment and machinery.”

This prevents untrained employees from exposing themselves in danger. Consequently, greatly reducing the number of workplace incidents.

One byproduct of this restriction is the load of documents from the training process. It can be certifications, resources, forms, or any other forms of document. Over time, the amount of documents can get unmanageable for contractors and firms. 

The most straightforward way to address this is to digitalize the documents on a cloud-based platform.

By saving training resources digitally, employees can access the information without having to acquire the physical documents.

Organizing certificates of employees on a software allows for easy revision. No need to go through multiple file cabinets for the certificate of a single employee. It’s also the easiest way to track the renewal dates of accreditations.

Safety Equipment

Before the OSHA came to existence, the usage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was actually optional. It’s hard to imagine equipment the construction industry considers as necessities could be dismissed back then.

The lack of PPE certainly induced numerous construction incidents, thus the regulation from OSHA.

Despite being a requirement, it is still common, even for experienced employees, to make mistakes regarding PPE. Especially when PPE for more dangerous conditions can get complicated, it is difficult to not make a single mistake throughout one’s career.

The use of digital software is one of the best ways to prevent human error from putting employees in danger.

Using construction software, managers and supervisors can make updates on the software, and every team member would receive the update real-time. 

This functionality means supervisors can upload different checklists for different work conditions on the software. Employees can then inspect each requirement to make sure they have done every precaution to maximize safety.

Removal of Potential Risks

The Subpart C of OSHA’s regulations for construction demands requirements for not just the employees, but also the work condition. Subpart C’s Housekeeping, Illumination, and Sanitation section each asks for different precautions.

Housekeeping (1926.25) calls for “...scrap lumber with protruding nails, and all other debris, [to] be kept cleared from work areas, passageways, and stairs, in and around buildings or other structures.” The aim is to reduce incidents through removing the potential risks in the form of debris.

Illumination (1926.26) demands enough lighting for workers to operate with enough vision. The standard explicitly states that “construction areas…and storage areas where work is in progress shall be lighted with either natural or artificial illumination.”

Lastly, Sanitation (1926.27) requires employers to provide enough clean water and food for the employees. As water and food are necessities, employers should provide “an adequate supply of potable water” and any provided food should “be protected against contamination.”

Upon close inspection, the three standards revolve around one theme: clearing potential hazards preemptively.

Removing potential risks before the work commences is an effective way to ensure safety, as come construction work may take a lot of focus. If a hazard is left unnoticed or unaddressed, it is very likely to cause an incident.

Despite being effective, the method is not efficient. Giving an entire worksite an inspection isn’t an easy task. One way to increase the efficiency and accuracy of this method is through the use of a construction management software.

On this specific task, todo list and progress tracking systems are extremely helpful tools.

Assigning tasks through the todo list system helps employees receive the update immediately. Supervisors are able to better utilize every bit of manpower to complete the worksite inspection. Assignees can also report back to the assigner on the mobile app with a click, drastically reducing the time needed to get the message across.

The progress tracking system allows supervisors to send checklists or relevant documents as attachments. Making sure each assignee has the document for reference, minimizing room for human error. 

Dashboards also inform supervisors how much progress each assignee has done at first sight, allowing for easy judgment on whether the worksite is safe.

Which Software, Exactly?

The use of construction management software can make all the difference when it comes to following OSHA regulations. Which software to use, exactly, may be the real question here.

For this reason, we have sorted different software from different providers that may prove to be helpful for contractors.

1. GoBuid

GoBuid’s simplistic and straightforward User Interface provides a shallow learning curve. The time cost of using GoBuid is one of the most affordable in the market of construction management software.

GoBuid provides powerful functionalities that cover the mentioned OSHA regulations as well. A project progress tracker, todo list, and attachment-friendly comment section are certainly powerful helpers in a contractor’s journey of working with OSHA regulations.

Most importantly, GoBuid’s pricing is transparent and more than affordable even for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Combining everything mentioned, GoBuid is the software with the best price-performance ratio amongst ones in the list.

2. Procore

Procore is the most popular construction software on the market. While it provides all-rounded functionalities with plenty of resources, it has some critical limitations.

Procore’s pricing is a great obstacle for construction businesses. Even for relatively large firms, the price of Procore is too much to handle. Many contractors ended up looking for an alternative after Procore’s gradual price raise in recent years.

Despite being a software with robust functionalities, Procore’s ultimate weakness lies in its pricing.

3. Buildertrend

Buildertrend is another popular option, being the one many contractors switch to after Procore. From streamlining workflow to tracking budget, Buildertrend has it all.

However, Buildertrend’s complicated User Interface makes using it a challenge by itself. For construction teams, it is best that time is used on projects rather than learning how to use software.

An effective construction software should be easy to pick up, as time is a valuable resource. Buildertrend’s user-unfriendly layout and design cost construction firms even more, as each member ends up spending time learning what should be intuitive. 

Conclusion

The OSHA, while adding extra work for contractors and construction teams, is necessary in keeping workers safe. In the modern construction scene, one of the most efficient ways to work with OSHA is through digital tools.

Construction management software like GoBuid, if utilized correctly, negates any challenges for contractors complying with regulations from OSHA.