Owners and general contractors currently have no standardized procedure for evaluating potential subcontractors on the basis of their ability to provide a safe work environment for workers. A Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) project scheduled to get underway in 2015 will develop and validate a new publicly available pre-qualification assessment tool for construction projects in order to select and promote safer contractors.

A number of companies have made significant improvements to their safety cultures. Their progress is so dramatic, they often come to the realization that it is highly probable that their next fatality will come from a contractor they hire. To safety leaders, this is not an acceptable risk.

1. Paul O’Neill would be voted in as OSHA chief by safety pros in a heartbeat. Or they would like to clone him for every boardroom meeting on safety. He is an inspiration to professionals, with his straight talking passion for safety.