Construction Safety Isn’t Broken But Our Metrics Might Be
In this episode, we sat down with David Tibbetts, Chief Safety Officer at Highwire, to talk about rethinking safety metrics, reframing risk, and why the industry’s obsession with low recordables might be missing the point.
Tibbetts’ message is simple but radical: if the data doesn’t drive better conversations, it’s just noise.
Here’s what stood out.
1. Safety Metrics Have Lost the Plot
“Recordables are down 80% in 30 years, but fatalities haven’t budged.”
That’s the line that stops you cold. Construction’s safety systems have become remarkably good at tracking small injuries but not at preventing the ones that matter most.
Tibbetts calls this the SIF shift, Serious Injuries and Fatalities. Highwire’s data shows that the focus on minor incidents has distracted the industry from recognizing and addressing high-consequence exposures.
“We fix the hazard and move on but we lose the learning.”
The goal isn’t just a better EMR, it’s about surfacing the insights that prevent catastrophic events in the first place.
2. Prequalification Isn’t About Disqualification
“Prequalification isn’t about disqualification, it’s about understanding risk.”
Too often, safety prequal is treated as a compliance gate... a pass/fail test that tells you nothing about who you’re actually hiring. Tibbetts’ and Highwire are driving a different conversation.
At Highwire, prequalification is used to start conversations, not end them. The goal isn’t to punish contractors for bad data, it’s to understand the why behind the numbers.
“When you see a risk factor, it should start a dialogue, not end one.”
The result? Owners and GCs get a truer picture of risk and contractors get a seat at the table to explain, adapt, and improve.
3. Culture Over Compliance
“Don’t punish reporting reward participation.”
That’s the cultural pivot safety needs most. When workers hide incidents to protect metrics, learning stops. Highwire’s platform flips that logic by encouraging transparency over perfection.
The best safety cultures reward teams for reporting exposures and near misses not penalize them. Because every reported risk is a chance to fix a system before it fails someone.
“You can’t build trust if your metrics punish honesty.”
The measure of success isn’t how few incidents are logged it’s how many conversations they start.
4. The Human Side of AI
“AI should support decision-making, not replace it.”
Tibbetts is no Luddite, he’s a realist. He sees enormous potential for AI to identify risk patterns, flag high-exposure zones, and surface insights faster than humans ever could. But he’s clear-eyed about the limits.
“You can’t automate accountability.”
AI can help find the signal in the noise, but it still takes experience, empathy, and judgment to act on it. The next generation of safety innovation won’t be fully digital, it’ll be hybrid. Humans in the loop. Algorithms in the background.
5. Redefining What “Good” Looks Like
“The best metric isn’t a count, it’s a conversation.”
If there’s one theme running through everything Tibbetts said, it’s that safety is social. Data is the start, not the destination.
“Just because you counted it doesn’t mean it was effective.”
From toolbox talks to risk dashboards, Tibbetts believes safety programs should measure engagement, not compliance. Are people talking about risk? Are leaders listening? Are learnings shared and acted on?
Listen to your jobsite and you’ll learn quite a bit about the safety culture its promoting.
Conclusion
This conversation with David Tibbetts is a gut check for anyone who thinks safety is solved. It’s not about bigger dashboards, tighter rules, or higher compliance scores. It’s about creating a culture where people feel safe enough to tell the truth and leaders are humble enough to hear it.
The takeaway? Real safety isn’t measured by the absence of injuries but by the presence of trust.
🎧 Listen now → Ep 24: Beyond Recordables: Highwire’s David Tibbetts on SIFs, Culture & Collaboration
Originally published in Construction Briefs. Read on Substack →