Bridging the Mentorship Gap: Enhancing Construction Site Safety Amid Baby Boomer Retirement

The construction market is projected to reach $1.27 trillion by 2026; however, most of that demand for labor is expected to be met by replacing retiring baby boomers rather than by creating new positions. This has created a mentorship gap that has significant safety implications. An example is that 44% of workers’ compensation claims come from first-year workers.

For safety leaders, this is not simply a matter of workforce dynamics but a daily workplace issue. As experienced workforce members retire from the industry, they take with them knowledge that cannot be replicated through written resources.

By working with crews on job sites, we have repeatedly seen seasoned workforce members identify “out of the ordinary” issues long before they become incidents. They understand how workflow, equipment and site conditions operate daily in ways that cannot be replicated through formal training. When these workers leave without passing this knowledge on to the next generation of members, companies risk creating teams that still don’t fully know how to apply their training in real-world situations, increasing the risk of preventable incidents.

Why Experience Matters More Than Ever

Safety programs today are more robust than ever, but they have their own set of limitations because there are aspects of safety that can’t be fully captured in a manual; think subtle cues and judgment calls that workers learn from years in the field.

For instance, experienced workers can identify potential hazards based on environmental conditions, mechanical functioning and workflow disruptions that aren’t typically documented in the way a task should be completed on paper.

In practice, this can take the form of a written procedure for safely operating a piece of equipment, without accounting for early warning signs of mechanical fatigue or how a surface condition can change throughout the day. Those insights are learned over time and shared informally among workers.

What The Mentorship Gap Means for Jobsite Safety

Traditionally, mentorship on jobsites has been informal. New employees have learned from their experienced coworkers by asking questions and observing their decisions as they continue to build their on-the-job skills.

However, due to rapid workforce turnover, this mentorship model is breaking down. With fewer experienced employees to mentor new hires, there are fewer opportunities for on-the-job training. Often, crews have mostly new employees and lack the same opportunities for real-time mentorship.

Safety leaders have reported that one reason new employees do not speak up about safety is a lack of confidence and pressure to keep moving. This uncertainty creates safety hazards.

Construction remains one of the most dangerous industries in America, as evidenced by the over 1,000 fatalities reported in 2024. These stats make it clear that the lack of mentorship between experienced and new employees creates real safety hazards, rather than just operational challenges.

Without mentorship:

• New workers may hesitate to speak up or ask questions in critical moments.
• Hazards may go unrecognized until they escalate into incidents.
• Shortcuts can become normalized without proper context or understanding of the risks.
• Safety becomes a checklist activity, rather than a mindset embedded in daily decision-making.

Standard Safety Training Programs Alone Are Not Enough

Many companies provide employees with safety training programs as part of ongoing learning to enhance their safety skills. Unfortunately, safety training programs alone are not sufficient.

Safety training is structured, standardized and time-limited, helping workers understand the rules, regulations and procedures governing safe work practices. However, workplace safety conditions are dynamic, so they may not always match what is shown in the safety training program. This is where the importance of having a mentor comes into play.

Mentoring allows the new employee the opportunity to see the multiple ways that they can make a safety decision in real time; for example, how to stop working when something doesn’t feel right, how to adapt to changing conditions, and how to weigh the efficiency of completing a task with the risk of injury to themselves or to others.

Having a mentor also helps the new employee build confidence through guidance, and reinforces the knowledge and skills gained from their safety program and training.

Addressing the Gap Between Mentoring and Safety

To effectively address this mentoring gap, companies need to integrate mentoring into their safety programs as a formalized component of their overall safety strategy.

In general, companies making the most progress in closing this gap are those that view knowledge transfer as a function of safety. Fortunately, there are quick steps companies can take:

1. Start mentoring on the first day of employment. New hires should be matched with an experienced mentor immediately upon being hired. The sooner they are exposed to an experienced employee, the better their understanding of safety expectations will be and the sooner they will gain confidence.

2. Define what good mentoring is. An experienced employee does not necessarily make a good mentor. Companies can increase mentoring consistency and improve their overall impact by guiding how to mentor employees (e.g., coaching, communicating safety and reinforcing safe behaviors).

3. Support your mentors. Mentoring employees requires significant time and effort. Companies that endorse and recognize these contributions send a clear message to their workforce that knowledge transfer is a priority, not just an afterthought.

4. Capture knowledge before it walks out the door. As employees approach retirement, companies should proactively document helpful information, insights, lessons learned and best practices to support the transition process. Examples of documenting knowledge transfer techniques include formal interviews, workplace shadowing and peer-to-peer mentoring.

5. Build real-time learning opportunities. For mentoring to be successful, both parties need time to ask questions, talk and observe. If time and engagement are built into the work process, it will be difficult for work production to undermine the success of the mentoring process.

6. Reinforce safety accountability. By actively promoting open dialogue and encouraging peer-to-peer training, companies can create an environment of trust that will translate into safe behaviors becoming part of everyday work.

Integrating Mentorship into Your Safety Culture

When pursuing mentorship programs, be sure to weave them into your safety culture by using the following safety processes:

• Toolbox talks and daily briefings;
• Job hazard analyses;
• Incident review and near-miss discussions;
• Continued training and certification programs.

By incorporating mentorship into these processes, you demonstrate that it is part of your organization’s day-to-day operations and make knowledge sharing an expected activity at work.

When safety leaders and supervisors support mentorship by providing time to mentor, establishing expectations, and modeling behavior, we will see greater consistency in safety performance between teams.

From Knowledge Loss to Knowledge Transfer

The industry has long focused on closing the skilled labor gap. But the mentorship gap may be just as critical, especially when it comes to safety.

Organizations that address it proactively will be better positioned to protect their workforce, maintain productivity and sustain a strong safety culture. On the other hand, those that don’t may face a quieter, but more significant risk: an employee who understands the rules but does not know how to apply them in their day-to-day duties.

In today’s safety management climate, we need to do more than minimize incidents. The industry needs to do a better job of retaining the knowledge of experienced workers who understand the measures needed to keep jobsites safe. Safety managers have an opportunity to take proactive steps to ensure this knowledge is passed on to future generations.