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The BCCSA is leveraging data analytics tool to help construction employers improve safety outcomes

If you could stop potential construction safety incidents before they happened, you’d do anything you could to prevent them. While we don’t have anything approaching a device that can look into the future, the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) is leveraging the next-best thing — a data analysis system that identifies employers who may need additional support exactly when they need it.

The BCCSA is leveraging that capability through a partnership with EHS Analytics, a Calgary-based provider of data solutions for occupational safety, offering expertise in data structuring, contractor data acquisition, analytics, and proprietary machine learning models. 

“WorkSafeBC provides us with an aggregate database of information that encompasses every construction employer, including their associated injury rate and the duration of claims,” says Mike McKenna, executive director of the BCCSA. “But even though the information we need is all there, it’s difficult to use that database to extract more actionable insights to assist individual employers.”

That’s especially true of smaller employers with five or fewer employees who represent the majority of BCCSA members. For example, if a small employer reports one worker injury over a period of five years, is that statistically significant or does it represent a potential anomaly?

McKenna says he was intrigued by a presentation by EHS Analytics, which had already worked with other construction safety associations in Canada, and its promise to increase the value of available safety data by synthesizing it into a more usable form. The BCCSA entered into a contract with EHS in the summer of 2023 to provide the Alliance with a digital “dashboard” that could help direct assistance to employers who appear to need it most.

“Once an employer is identified, we can drill down further to see exactly what type of assistance would be most beneficial” says Erin Linde, director, health and safety services, BCCSA. “How were workers previously injured and what was their trade? If we see that the employer isn’t COR^®-certified, helping them to achieve COR^® certification could be the most helpful next step. The dashboard helps us to provide targeted direct outreach and assistance based on this rich information.”

The BCCSA uses this synthesized information to contact the employer, choosing the most appropriate ambassador to offer free services. That might be one of the Alliance’s team of Regional Safety Advisors, or even a member of the Fire, Flood & Restoration Program Technical Advisory Committee for employers of that sub-group.

“It’s been a game-changer for us,” Linde says. “We’ve been working with other construction associations across Canada who are using the same tool to discover how we can expand the possibilities of what we can learn. For example, we can fold in our own data, including results from surveys and other information, to provide even richer insights and to determine overall industry safety trends.”

McKenna is quick to point out that all insights derived from the data remain strictly confidential and will only be used to assist employers who are open to receiving additional support for their health and safety programs.  

“We’re not a regulator,” he says. “We’re here to help. If we have a source of data that can help to improve worker safety outcomes and decrease injury costs, it’s our duty to share it with our members.”

This content is an Industry Special by BCCSA in collaboration with ����ӰԺ™ Media. To learn more about BCCSA, visit .