As chairman of American Contractors Insurance Group Inc. and founder of the International Risk Management Institute (IRMI), Bill McIntyre knows more than a thing or two about the boom period being enjoyed right now by the construction industry — and the risks that have become exacerbated with that growth in business opportunity.

Sincerely committing to safer work sites, he explained, isn't just good sense and the right thing to do — it's also good business. "People are realizing that safety doesn't cost; that it could save you money, especially when it's coordinated with quality efforts," McIntyre told PropertyCasualty360.com just before the kickoff of IRMI's annual Construction Risk Conference in Indianapolis.

The ratio of man-hours versus accidents has improved, he notes, and an increased amount of best practices in site safety are being pushed down the chain from general contractors to subcontractors. That's helping to reduce the number of injuries on sites throughout the U.S. McIntyre also pointed to research by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), which recently released a new safety study and recommendations designed to help construction forms firms further improve the safety and health of their workforce.