That doesn’t mean supervisors need to be counselors or clinicians. It means teaching them to communicate with empathy, recognizing barriers to recovery and helping employees stay connected throughout the healing process.

Many construction employers are already making worker safety a greater priority. A 2026 survey of U.S. executives found that 83% plan to increase investments in worker safety this year. Training supervisors to support employees through every stage of recovery is a natural extension of those efforts—and one that recognizes successful recovery depends on supporting the whole person.

Recognize What Whole-Person Recovery Looks Like

One of the most important lessons supervisors and managers can learn is that recovery involves more than healing from physical injury. Supporting employees throughout recovery means recognizing factors can influence whether an employee is ready to return to work. Many of those factors extend beyond just a medical diagnosis. The traditional view of workers’ compensation often focuses on physical injury. Has the employee had surgery? Are they attending therapy appointments? What restrictions are in place? Those questions are important, but they don’t tell the whole story.

An employee recovering from a back injury may worry about whether co-workers resent having to cover their responsibilities. Someone returning after a fall may fear getting hurt again. Another employee may struggle with the financial implications of missing work, concerns about job security or the emotional and physical demands of rehabilitation. These factors can affect motivation, engagement and confidence throughout recovery, even when the injury itself is healing as expected.

Helping managers recognize these whole-person challenges doesn’t mean asking them to become counselors or medical professionals. It means equipping them to respond with empathy, maintain open communication and connect employees with appropriate resources when needed.

That support benefits both employees and employers. Workers who feel heard are more likely to stay connected to their workplace, remain engaged in recovery and return to work with greater confidence. Maintaining that trust may also reduce misunderstandings and frustration that sometimes can lead to workers’ compensation disputes or litigation.

Teach Supervisors How to Communicate Effectively

Interactions with supervisors significantly shape injured workers’ perception of the recovery process. Unfortunately, managers are rarely trained for these conversations. Without guidance, even well-intentioned questions such as, “When are you coming back?” can inadvertently increase stress or create pressure. When employers communicate you can positively impact the injured worker. A different approach can foster trust and maintain connection. Supporting the whole person starts with conversations that acknowledge the employee’s experiences and concerns—not just their medical restrictions.

Encourage supervisors to check in regularly and ask open-ended questions that demonstrate genuine concern. Examples include:

• How are you doing overall?
• What concerns do you have about returning to work?
• Is there anything about the recovery process that’s been particularly challenging?
• What questions do you have about what to expect moving forward?
• How can we support you during this transition?

What matters most in these conversations is consistency and authenticity.

Maintaining regular contact reinforces the employee is a valued member of the team. That sense of belonging may reduce feelings of isolation during an extended absence and help employees stay engaged throughout recovery.

Help Employees Navigate the Process

Recovery can become more difficult when employees are unsure about what comes next. Questions about appointments, paperwork, wage replacement and return-to-work expectations can add unnecessary stress during an already challenging time.

Training HR professionals and frontline leaders to explain the process clearly can alleviate some of that anxiety. Employees should have a clear understanding of what steps come next, who they can contact for questions and resource information available throughout recovery. Even simple explanations about modified-duty opportunities or anticipated timelines can help injured workers feel more informed, supported and confident about returning to work.

Partner With Insurers Early

Supporting the whole person may require resources that extend beyond medical treatment alone. This is where a good relationship with your workers’ compensation insurer is important—your company doesn’t have to navigate this alone. Workers’ compensation insurers can provide services that help address barriers to recovery while supporting successful outcomes. Employers should understand what services their insurer offers and how employees can access them promptly. Sentry, for example, uses data analytics to identify psychosocial factors that may complicate recovery. These factors can include fear of reinjury, prolonged pain concerns or other challenges that warrant additional support.

Early intervention may involve connecting employees with counseling resources, specialized pain management approaches or clinical programs tailored to their individual recovery needs. In some cases, innovative therapies such as virtual-reality-based treatment may complement more traditional recovery methods.

The objective is to help injured workers receive the right support at the right time so they can recover with confidence and successfully return to work.

Prepare Leaders to Support Return-to-Work Efforts

Returning to work is often viewed as the end of recovery. In reality, it’s another important phase of the process—and one that reflects how well employees have been supported throughout their journey. Construction employers can prepare supervisors to facilitate successful transitions back to the jobsite by developing clear return-to-work procedures and identifying opportunities for modified duties when appropriate.

Temporary adjustments may allow employees to contribute productively while continuing to heal. Just as importantly, returning to work can restore routine, rebuild confidence and reconnect employees with colleagues.

Training should address practical considerations such as understanding work restrictions, monitoring progress and maintaining communication throughout the transition period. It should also emphasize flexibility. Recovery trajectories differ from one employee to another, and supervisors may need to adapt accordingly.

Supporting employees through this stage reinforces that the organization values both their contributions and their long-term wellbeing.

A Shared Responsibility

Construction companies have long recognized the importance of training employees on injury prevention training. Preparing leaders to support employees after an injury deserves the same level of attention.

Helping injured employees return to work begins with recognizing that recovery is about more than healing a physical injury. Supervisors, project leaders and HR professionals all play a vital role in helping employees navigate recovery and return to work with confidence.

Leaders equipped to support the whole person can improve return-to-work outcomes, strengthen employee trust and reinforce the kind of workplace where people feel valued before, during and after an injury.

SEE ALSO: ONLY 20% OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS REPORT INJURIES LINKED TO MENTAL DISTRESS

The post How Construction Leaders Can Train Supervisors to Support Sustained Recovery of Injured Workers first appeared on Construction Executive.

“Construction job openings rose to a 10-month high in May,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Unfortunately, that increase likely reflects exceptional demand for certain occupations critical to data center buildouts, like electricians, rather than increased industrywide demand for labor.

“The construction hiring rate fell sharply in May and, at 3.5%, matches February’s all-time low,” said Basu. “Rising layoff activity and a falling quit rate also suggest that demand for construction labor weakened in May. Despite these signs, contractors remain optimistic about growing their staffing levels, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index.” 

SEE ALSO: THINKING OF AI AGENTS AS MEMBERS OF A CONSTRUCTION CREW

The post Construction Job Openings Rise to 10-Month High in May, Hiring Remains Historically Slow first appeared on Construction Executive.

Overall construction materials prices are 9.6% higher than one year ago, while nonresidential construction input prices are 9.7% higher. Prices increased in 2 of the 3 energy subcategories last month. Crude petroleum prices increased 11.8% and unprocessed energy materials increased 6.9%. Natural gas prices were down 18.2% in May.

“Construction input prices surged again in May and are now up nearly 10% year over year,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Oil prices, pushed higher by the ongoing Iran conflict, made a significant contribution to the rise in overall materials prices, yet the greater concern is the continuing price growth in tariff-affected inputs like iron, steel and copper. Contractors remain optimistic that their profit margins will expand over the next six months, according to ABC’s Construction Confidence Index, yet it appears likely that materials price escalation and stubbornly high borrowing costs could eventually weigh on profitability.”

SEE ALSO: THE FUTURE OF PRECONSTRUCTION: LOOKING AHEAD TO 2030

The post Construction Materials Prices Surge 2.6% in May, Up Nearly 10% Year Over Year first appeared on Construction Executive.

Originally passed in mid-2024 and proposed to go into effect in July 2025, the law’s requirements were postponed until January 2026, giving ABC Minnesota/North Dakota—in partnership with NCCER and the Minnesota Cable Communications Association—time to roll out their Safety Qualified Underground Telecommunications Installer training program, which would ensure the workforce of their contractor members were certified.

When ABC MN/ND first caught wind of this law, it quickly set to work on designing this program from scratch. It would need to encapsulate enough classes to satisfy the 40-hour requirement, with both hands-on (in the field) and hands-off (digital classroom) training portions. It would need to include a training addendum for those looking to become program instructors. It would need to be flexible enough to accommodate the demands of sometimes unpredictable and often odd construction hours. It would need to be offered in both English and Spanish. And it would need to be designed in one year.

This law being the first of its kind in the country, there was no precedent for similar programs which the chapter could reference. So, it did not shock the chapter when it was approached by Minnesota Cable in late 2024 once this legislation had passed. With a relatively small staff, Minnesota Cable was conscious of the cap on its abilities to build out a bulky safety program like the one this law would require—but just as with ABC, their members needed it. “Minnesota Cable asked if ABC was interested in partnering,” says Adam Hanson, president of ABC MN/ND. “So, we went through a few meetings and agreed to take it on.”

But each association still took pause with just where and how to begin designing the program. So, NCCER was not shocked either when it received a call to action. 

Robert Jones, digital director of learning at NCCER, says, “It just made perfect sense for us to be able to support ABC. To make sure that this chapter is a leader in the state in training people how to work safely, and not just in broadband.”

Jones says they also saw the bigger picture—a national one—which influenced the type of program that they would build. “We built the program modularly,” he says. Of the seven courses, the first focuses specifically on Minnesota regulations; the other six focus on digging-safety and equipment skills. “We designed it so that if another ABC chapter came to us under similar circumstances, we are able to readily respond.”

Having worked closely with NCCER over the past several years, Hanson was confident in this next venture. “I knew that there was great opportunity there,” he says. He was also confident about the national influence a program like this could have on construction safety. “We were not only building this for Minnesota contractors.”

Perhaps the SQUTI program was built for something bigger than Minnesota, but—as it originated there—what did the contractors in Minnesota think of this program?

Director of Government Affairs for ABC MN/ND Joel Hanson says, “A lot of the feedback I got from contractors included ensuring that we weren’t just covering the bare minimum. If they’re going to have to put people through 40 hours of training, it should be worthwhile.” Hanson collected information on preexisting training that contractors were already applying, as well as supplemental activities to include. “We wanted to make this a good value for the contractors.”

Having been enacted for almost half a year now, the program is already increasing overall telecommunications safety awareness and implementation, and the more contractors who enroll and pass, the more feel and see the safety benefits. “ABC MN/ND is proud to help lead the rollout out of SQUTI”, says Janet Artmann, ABC MN/ND’s safety programs manager, “SQUTI strengthens our industry by elevating training expectations and reinforcing a culture of safety on every jobsite.”

At the time of this publication, there were 214 participants and 51 instructors enrolled; 171 of whom have already earned their orange cards—which will need to be renewed every three years.

This SQUTI certification program is already proving successful—and historical. Artmann says, “We’re always advocates for the safest, best way to do anything. Being the first program of this kind out there and already having nearly 200 orange cards, if we can keep that consistency going and keep in the forefront of people’s minds, I feel like its success will be organic and lasting.”

SEE ALSO: INFRASTRUCTURE: GOING AFTER IIJA-FUNDED WORK TWO YEARS LATER

The post New Law Prompts ABC Minnesota/North Dakota to Design New Telecommunications Safety Training Program first appeared on Construction Executive.

Nonresidential construction employment decreased by 3,800 positions, with losses in 2 of the 3 subcategories. Heavy and civil engineering lost 6,500 jobs and nonresidential specialty trade lost 1,400 positions, while nonresidential building added 4,100 jobs in February.

The construction unemployment rate was 6.9% in February. Unemployment across all industries rose to 4.4% and is 0.2 percentage points higher than one year ago.

“Construction employment shrank again in February and has now declined in 8 of the past 11 months,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “Both the residential and nonresidential segments lost jobs for the month, adding to a recent string of downbeat industry data releases; construction spending has been in decline for several quarters, and ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator fell to a four-year low in January. With the conflict in Iran adding to trade policy-related uncertainty and crude oil prices well above $80 per barrel, the industry’s outlook remains downbeat through the first few months of 2026.”

SEE ALSO: MENTORING THE FUTURE OF THE ENGINEERING WORKFORCE

The post Construction Loses 11,000 Jobs in February first appeared on Construction Executive.