Michigan Ranked 15th Most Dangerous State For Construction Workers

Every state deals with the annoying season of construction and for the nicer areas of the country, this may be a year-round season. Here in Michigan, that season only comes for about 6 months before it becomes too cold and the snow starts to fall. Often we are stuck dealing with construction projects that take much longer than anticipated due to weather and personnel. Construction workers are some of the highest paid employees in the country but they are forced to work a lot of hours while doing heavy labor.

They are often up before everyone else, working 12+ hours all day long, while people go whizzing by in their cars. With the concern of being hit by a car on their minds, they also have to be aware of any holes, wires, or other hazards alongside all of the machinery they are operating, construction becomes a dangerous job. It may not be the most dangerous but it's not the safest either, that's also a great way to describe the safety of construction workers here in Michigan as the state is ranked 15th in America.

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We are currently in the thick of what we in Michigan have labeled our 5th season, Construction season. There are orange cones, closed lanes, and cranes all over the state as they are trying to build new buildings, and bridges, and repair road conditions before the winter season arrives. As they have been working tirelessly for months, they must also be focused on remaining safe as they are in one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

This study from Abels & Annes P.C is based on the following nine factors, OSHA construction inspections, citations, and fines; weather conditions and precipitation; health insurance costs; salaries; as well as the total number of registered construction employees and fatalities in the workplace, has ranked and compiled a final list of the most unsafe states for working in construction.

They used the following weighted scale of the factors to find the scores that they used to rank the states from most dangerous to least dangerous for construction workers.

Fatalities: 30%

Average Cost of Health Insurance (2024): 15%

OSHA Construction Total (Penalty) Fines from 1/1/17 to 1/29/2024 ($): 10%

OSHA Construction Citations from 1/1/17 to 1/29/2024: 10%

OSHA Construction Inspections from 1/1/17 to 1/29/2024: 10%

Salary - Hourly rate: 10%

Weather Conditions - Average Temp °F: 5%

Annual Precipitation (inch): 5%

Total Number of Employed Construction: 5%

Here is how Michigan scored in each of those factors:

Rank 15

No. of Employed Construction Workers 24

OSHA Construction Fines 17

OSHA Construction Citations 3

OSHA Construction Inspections 3

Average Temp. 13

Annual Precipitation 31

Salary - Hourly rate 37

Fatalities 23

Average Cost of Health Insurance 40

Total 41.22

Most of the numbers were taken at a rate of per 100,000 workers which can make things better to worse for a state depending on its population and construction worker capital.

Here is a list of MDOT construction projects already in progress or slated to start in Michigan during 2024: