The role of construction safety professionals has significantly expanded over the past decade. The industry employs thousands of safety professionals, most of whom work for contractors (general or subcontractors).
Prior to the 1980s, only a few progressive owners held employees and construction contractors who worked in their facilities to a higher level of safety performance than OSHA standards. Then came a real push for safety performance excellence as insurance carriers demanded that contractors provide their own full-time safety field supervision. In addition to the considerable efforts by safety-conscious owners, contractors, OSHA, insurers and other organizations, safety professionals have played a prominent role in the industry's safety improvement over the past 30 years.
