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Staffing for Safety: Building an Effective Construction Safety Team 

By 

Last Updated Jan 27, 2025

By

Last Updated Jan 27, 2025

Photo of a construction safety team at a snowy worksite with an illustration of PPE

In the construction industry, staffing for safety can be a somewhat ambiguous process. Staffing standards are often difficult to find or understand — and that’s because they simply don’t exist for many common types of construction work. What’s more frequent is that safety staffing requirements are identified by contract specifications. But these contractual requirements vary by project and should serve only as a starting point.

This means construction leaders must work independently to develop effective, productive and compliant safety teams. Of course, it’s a given fact that safety professionals should be aware of their firms’ contracts and operate accordingly. Beyond that, they must also understand the common safety roles and responsibilities for the various types of work their workforce performs, how to identify and develop safety skills within their teams and how to align safety roles within the hierarchy of their organizations.

This article explores the process of building out a safety team — including prerequisites, roles and responsibilities and tips for developing staff. 

Table of contents

Understanding Safety Staffing Requirements

Being aware of contract requirements, regulatory standards and industry best practices can help construction firms establish a framework for building an effective safety team tailored to their organizations and the specific needs of their projects.

OSHA Regulations and Industry Standards

While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not explicitly mandate the number of safety staff required for all construction work, it does provide standards and guidance for certain activities — and this should have a strong influence on staffing decisions.

The most common OSHA regulations that impact safety staffing in construction are for certain high-risk tasks including electrical work, entry in confined spaces, excavation and trenching. The standards set by OSHA for these tasks require at least two trained workers to be present. 

Pro Tip

OSHA regulations aren’t going to include anything about how many dedicated safety professionals should be on a jobsite. Since a lot of safety staffing is driven by the requirements of a contract, that's always the first place to look.

Commonly referred to as the “two-person rule,” the guidance is intended to make sure a capable person is on hand to monitor work activities and provide assistance in case of an emergency. In some situations, the “standby” person must be formally trained to perform emergency response such as CPR, which will impact your staffing framework. 

Of course, not every situation in these types of work requires a second person. There are specifics like voltage level, trench depth and more that trigger this requirement. There are also exceptions to the rule, including level of risk and safety controls in place. 

While it’s important to keep these regulations in mind, they only apply to very specific types of construction tasks. That’s why safety leaders cannot use OSHA guidance as their only resource for information on safety staffing.

Contractual Requirement and Other Drivers

Because safety staffing in construction is more often influenced by contractual agreements, specific safety requirements can vary widely depending on the scale of the project, the type of construction work being performed and the requests from the project owner or prime contractor. 

For some projects, particularly those involving a high number of workers or increased complexity, contracts might require a dedicated safety professional to be on site. In other circumstances, a safety representative might need to be identified, but that person might not need to be on site at all times. 

On the site-level, there is a wide spectrum for safety staffing. For a lot of companies — for example, specialty subcontractors — there might be something in the job specs indicating that if there are a certain number of people on the jobsite, then there must be a dedicated site safety manager

That number could change depending on the GC, or it might be an owner requirement. Sometimes project stakeholders just want a dedicated safety representative who does not have to be at the jobsite but is reachable and accountable for safety at the project.

Building Out the Safety Team

When building safety roles within a construction team, there are various considerations both at the site-specific level and the organizational level.

Common Safety Hierarchies

In construction safety hierarchies, staffing structures are generally organized from emerging (early career) roles up to leadership and executive-level roles as follows:

  1. Informal Safety Champions
  2. Site Safety Coordinator
  3. Site Safety Manager
  4. Site Safety and Health Officer (SSHO, specific to projects on board military installations)
  5. Safety Manager
  6. Safety Director
  7. VP of Safety
  8. Senior VP of Safety
  9. Chief Safety Officer

Typically, emerging roles will start at the jobsite. As safety roles level up, responsibilities will expand to include broader oversight over multiple jobsites or even an entire organization. 

Managers and more senior roles will be responsible for both project- and organizational-level safety while also focusing on aligning safety initiatives with organizational business goals. Meanwhile, executive safety leaders will influence company-wide culture and integrate comprehensive risk management strategies across all projects.

Roles and Responsibilities

At the project level, site safety coordinators and managers are responsible for overseeing safety measures on the ground, acting as the primary resource for safety-related concerns. Certain federal or public projects might require a site safety and health officer (SSHO) to be on site. SSHOs work collaboratively with safety coordinators and managers to effectively implement and manage safety at the site level.

At the organizational level, safety managers and directors oversee multiple projects, providing guidance and support to other safety staff in addition to the broader workforce of their organizations. 

However, while a dedicated safety representative is considered the most important safety resource for project crews and acts as the primary person to go to for guidance, not all safety responsibilities should be solely owned by this role.

If you have a dedicated safety representative on staff, it doesn't mean ‘everything safety’ belongs to that person. They are the safety resource for the project and for the crew at the site, but others will still have safety responsibilities just like any other project. For example, foremen might conduct pre-task planning meetings covering safety, and superintendents might be doing daily or weekly job safety inspections.

Abby Ferri

Senior Leader

National Safety Council

Meanwhile, going further up the “chain of command,” executive roles such as safety director, VPs of safety and chief safety officers are responsible for integrating safety with risk management. These positions set the strategic direction for safety and risk management, integrating safety practices into the organization's overall strategy. 

The safety director role can have a wide spectrum of responsibility. A safety director could even be involved in insurance or risk management conversations — but this may or may not be appropriate at different organizations.

Aligning safety roles within the organizational hierarchy will help establish effective communication and decision-making.

Tips and Resources for Getting Started

To get a better idea for how to incorporate dedicated safety staff into their organizations, construction pros can look at competitors or other organizations that have an established approach to safety staffing. Examining these organizations' structures can provide insights into effective models. 

Small organizations or projects may rely on existing staff to inhabit the safety role by assigning these workers to continually monitor operations and ensure safe work practices. These responsibilities can be assigned to workers who have some safety training such as an OSHA 30 card.

Dedicated safety roles at the organization level commonly emerge as companies grow or reach a certain level of operational sophistication. Companies usually don’t consider expanding their dedicated safety teams until they reach a certain threshold of employees — typically 300 to 500. 

I recommend looking at competitors that you feel might be similar or even more mature than your organization is, looking at their structures and studying what’s out there to see what other people are doing. You can also talk to your insurance partners or other contractors you work with to identify common structures for safety and then go from there.

Abby Ferri

Senior Leader

National Safety Council

To determine how many dedicated safety staff members are the right fit for an organization, online calculators like those from the National Association of Safety Professionals (NASP) can help. These tools provide guidance on how many safety personnel are recommended based on factors such as the number of employees or the nature of work being performed.

While these resources can be valuable, it is still important for companies to assess their specific needs based on contractual obligations and the inherent risks of their projects.

Developing Talent and Building Safety Skills

The most successful construction safety teams will have a diverse mix of dedicated safety professionals with formal education and training, field-promoted experts who have been recognized and developed from within and informal safety champions who extend the prioritization of safety across the field.

While building safety roles into existing staffing structures, the most important thing to remember is that safety in construction is everyone’s job.

Engaging the Workforce in Safety

Pro Tip

It's important to understand the cultures that are represented in your workforce. For example, are people open to speaking up or do they have a more reserved communication style? This might necessitate something like an anonymous suggestion box.

Construction work is a balancing act, managing multiple priorities while maintaining progress toward deadlines. Integrating safety into this balance might sound like a complex process, but the most effective leaders understand that safety is not a separate or conflicting priority. In fact, productivity and quality can be significantly enhanced by safety.

As a first step, construction leaders should seek out, recognize and reward workers who have natural safety skills and a tendency to advocate for safety. To identify these workers, leaders can look for individuals who have technical knowledge of regulations and best practices, strong communication and collaboration with other team members, instinctual habits of influencing a positive environment and the ability to lead others even if they are not in formal leadership roles. 

Individuals who lead by example and effectively communicate safety practices to their peers will help promote a safe and harmonious culture. This is especially important for a diverse workforce with multiple languages spoken. Safety champions who are bilingual or multilingual can help bridge communication barriers and encourage consistent safety practices across the team.

On the site-level, if a dedicated safety representative isn’t required by a contract, I like to identify safety champions who are influencers on the jobsite. These are the people who others look to for guidance based on factors like ‘What’s the pace of work on this job? What's going on today and in the near term? What are our plans for safety?’ If the crew is naturally gravitating toward somebody, I would be very intentional about strengthening that relationship.

Abby Ferri

Senior Leader

National Safety Council

Recognizing skills and promoting from within

As a profession, the area of safety and health offers a substantial opportunity for developing a technical skill set, while also providing significant opportunities for growth and career advancement.

In addition to strong communication and collaboration, technical safety knowledge and the natural ability to positively influence peers and lead by example, other skills such as supervisory experience, critical thinking and problem solving abilities are also qualities to look for in a safety professional.

If your firm is considering transitioning someone from its existing workforce into a safety position, there are many advantages, but there are also potential drawbacks. Most importantly, creating internal career pathways and promoting from within encourages employee engagement and retention. Safety representatives who have field experience often have immediate credibility, which helps to establish an environment of trust and collaboration.

However, some construction leaders find it useful to train and develop an existing worker into a new role on a different jobsite than on the site where the individual was most recently working. This way, a new safety professional is better positioned to avoid any issues that might arise from their previous reputation.

When someone is coming from the field, it creates that kind of instant credibility. Teammates might say, ‘They've been in my boots so they understand.’ On the other hand, teammates might be looking for that person to relax on safety. So it's something that a company is really deliberate to get them set up for success.

Abby Ferri

Senior Leader

National Safety Council

The safety profession also provides a great opportunity for individuals who are passionate about construction but who want to transition to a role that isn’t so heavily focused on manual labor.

Career Development, Training and Certifications

Pro Tip

Certifications can be used as a marketing tool for your organization. It can go a long way as a selling point, especially if you're a subcontractor, as it shows a commitment to advanced safety education.

Whether developing internal safety champions or promoting field workers into safety roles, “train the trainer” activities are a great tool, both for developing skills and also for validating an individual’s interest in the safety profession. 

Train-the-trainer courses involve identifying individuals and subsequently teaching them to train others on a specific skill such as forklift operation, fall protection or correct procedures for personal protective equipment (PPE). This allows individuals to acquire important skills and become proficient in conducting peer training. 

When hiring or promoting dedicated safety staff, construction firms should require that safety personnel have earned the necessary skills and knowledge to manage risks associated with construction work — either through formal education or certification, or both. 

The gold standard of safety certification comes from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals — there's several certifications that they offer. If I wanted to elevate someone from the field into safety, I would look at the Safety Trained Supervisor (STS) certification as a curriculum for the knowledge I want them to have. 

It could also be a combination of training such as the OSHA 30 plus other courses like excavation and trenching, lock-out-tag-out and other safety standards

Abby Ferri

Senior Leader

National Safety Council

Some common safety certifications offered by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) are the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), the Associate Safety Professional (ASP), the Safety Trained Supervisor (STS) and the Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST). 

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Cultivating an Effective, Productive Workforce Starts with Safety

Construction is evolving, and strategic advancements in the industry are helping to create safer work environments and more effective, high-performing teams. To put your organization on the right path, a strong safety staffing framework should be established.

A successful safety staffing framework will start with developing a firm understanding of both contractual and regulatory requirements, getting a clear picture of industry best practices, finding staffing models from partners that you can build off of, and developing clear standards for the training and education you wish your safety personnel to have.

And because safety is everyone’s job in construction, members of any leadership team should partner with dedicated safety personnel to lead by example and recognize and reward positive safety practices. In doing so, organizations will create safer, more productive and desirable places to work.

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Written by

Abby Ferri

Abby Ferri is an influential and award-winning expert in global risk management and worker safety with more than two decades of experience. She is a passionate advocate for advancing women in EHS leadership, ethical technology integration, and STEM education, co-founding the globally recognized "Safety Justice League" podcast and authoring two books. Abby also serves as an adjunct professor and is active in her local community, contributing to advisory groups focused on thoughtful AI strategy and equitable access to STEM careers. Her leadership and innovative approaches continue to shape the future of workplace safety and education.

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Lindsey Salmony

Lindsey Salmony is a writer and marketing manager with a passion for finding and celebrating the human stories behind resilience and innovation. Her work has appeared in various publications including Engineering News Record, CFMA’s Building Profits Magazine, Industry Dive, AHP’s Advancing Philanthropy, and The Giving Institute’s Member Insights Blog. A native of New England, she has a proven track record of successfully navigating cars through rotaries and cracking lobsters at the dinner table. Outside of the office, she can be found alongside her husband cheering for her children in team sports and championing their growth mindsets.

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