Small Construction Firms Account for 42% of Industry Deaths, CPWR Data Shows
According to Safety+Health Magazine, workers at construction firms with 10 or fewer employees accounted for 42.4% of all construction industry deaths in 2022, based on a bulletin from CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training. Fatal injuries at those small firms jumped 27.5% between 2011 and 2022. The nonfatal injury rate at firms of that size was 0.8 per 100 full-time workers, twice the rate at firms with 1,000 or more employees. CPWR points to limited resources, inadequate training, and improper equipment as key factors, and notes that nonemployer establishments are typically not covered under OSHA protections.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Small subcontractors and independent contractors face measurably higher injury and fatality rates, making proactive safety investment a competitive and legal necessity, not just a best practice.
- The roughly 2.9 million self-employed and independent construction workers counted in 2023 largely fall outside OSHA’s protective umbrella, meaning safety responsibility falls entirely on the individual or the hiring firm.
- General contractors and project owners increasingly scrutinize subcontractor safety records during prequalification, so small firms with poor metrics risk losing bids on top of the human cost.
