RESTON, Va., July 24,2024 – While construction has made great strides in safety over the past decade, the industry still has one of the country’s highest rates of workplace injury. In response, DPR Construction gathered nearly 100 people including trade partners, safety experts and industry leaders for a summit aimed at helping the industry take the next steps to keep workers safe.

The summit’s interactive workshops and discussions highlighted the variety of behaviors throughout the project lifecycle where participants can positively affect safety, not simply rely on regulations and personal protective equipment (PPE). DPR is hosting a series of these conversations throughout the northeast US to help accelerate industry momentum, elevate standards and redefine industry practices. The company seeks to do this by emphasizing that safety stems from meticulous planning and education. The goal is to empower all project partners to identify high-risk activities, conduct thorough job hazard analyses and have a unified approach to both every day on every job. Then, together, teams can engineer out risks before they materialize.

"Everyone has a role to play in Environmental Health & Safety,” said Adam Eckert, a DPR safety leader. “The safety and success of any construction project are determined by the individual decisions and actions of every team member. It's critical to create an engaging, supportive jobsite environment that promotes communication, ownership, and teamwork."

The recent DC-area summit sparked discussions, surfacing gaps in work scopes, additional training needs, and behavioral shifts required to ensure a safer workplace. Participants also explored how to integrate EHS planning in every project phase and how new technology can help identify and mitigate risks. Attendees left with practical strategies that can be put to work immediately as well as areas for future focus.

"Safety is at the core of how we do business,” said Chris Littler, DPR’s northeast safety lead. “DPR is recognized among the safest contractors, but we’re not content to stop there. We believe it is time to reevaluate what we want our safety metrics to look like over the next five years – and what it will take to achieve them – if we want to truly change the game. It’s not going to be easy, but we are committed to getting every person who works on our jobs home safe."

Similar summits are planned in East Brunswick, NJ (September 2024), Boston (2025), and Richmond (2025).

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