HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Amid a construction boom, the state will likely have to continue bringing in important labor from other states to keep up with the growing number of projects.

With all of that activity, industry leaders say safety has to be top of mind.

“Job sites are always evolving. It is so important for us to value communication. That’s 80% of our job is to communicate the hazards,” said Tytan Timoteo, a project superintendent at Nordic PCL Construction, Inc.

“If you walk in there today, it’s going to be different when you walk out. So it’s very important to communicate and value the voice no matter how little or how big.”

A group of about 60 employees gathered in front of their Halawa construction site Tuesday morning to do stretches and other body movements as they had a discussion about safety.

“Construction Safety Week is a more intense focus for the period of one week, making sure you know that that we raise the awareness and consciousness of the workforce of working safely, so that everybody arrives and leaves in the same condition,” said Glenn Kaneshige, president of Nordic PCL Inc.

The construction industry is also including mental health as part of the overall discussion of safety.

“There were always concerns about mental health, but the pandemic really drew attention to it more and that is a critical part of creating a safe environment,” Kaneshige added.