These employees are most likely to get hurt on the job

It’s Information Overload Day, so we’ll keep this brief! Today’s edition includes timely to-dos for your finances, equipment and hand-offs; crucial insights on workers’ comp claims; and two items on bidding. 

But first (and just in time for spooky season): Construction crew unearths seven forgotten coffins!

» 🤕 Ouch! What do you do when your bid’s a disaster? Share your insights with this frustrated Redditor.

» Not your average playground. Check out these creative designs from Mitch Ryerson.

» 🦪 Shell game. Conservation builder Chris Mills uses oyster shells to make plaster and lime wash.

» Embrace the whimsy! Flip through these photos and you'll see why they call it The Hobbit House.

The job’s done and the invoice is out, but the payment still hasn’t landed. Meanwhile, the work keeps going and the bills keep coming. The last thing you need is a truck that slows you down. Ford Super Duty is built to keep you on the job, so you can finish on time and bill sooner.

Less time off the road means more jobs finished and more invoices out the door.

New data from the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute shows that employees with the least tenure on the job have the most workers’ compensation injuries, even though they are only about a third of the working population. Almost 40% of injuries happen in the first 12 months of employment and 16% during the first three.

Why it matters: Most workers’ comp injuries are avoidable. Reduce risk to newcomers with more thorough onboarding, mentoring from seasoned professionals and regular safety and health toolbox talks. (Business Insurance)

Even though the temps may still be mild, “fleet winterization is a process that should start in mid-to-late autumn depending on your region,” counsels Garland Morrison, technical service manager at Volvo Construction Equipment. “The highest ROI step is performing low-cost preventive checks like testing DEF [diesel exhaust fluid] purity with a refractometer, monitoring coolant concentration and regularly draining fuel water separators.”

Why it matters: Getting a jump on cold-weather preparation enables you to address and avoid issues that create downtime, lost revenue and higher costs. (Construction Equipment)

Ease the stress of year-end by cleaning up your books and mocking up a tax estimate now, counsels financial planner David Rae.

If you don’t regularly reconcile your accounts and track down missing receipts, you may be leaving money and deductions on the table. Invest some time each week to square your bank and credit accounts, double-check categorizations and payroll filings, and get W9s from subs and vendors. Then review personal charges paid by the business, shareholder loans and inventory and fixed-asset records.

While you’re at it, look into uncashed checks and chase overdue accounts receivable. For the tax estimate, use 2026 bookkeeping data to project annual revenue and calculate deductible expenses and major purchases, owner compensation and retirement contributions. Use that number to figure your state and federal tax liability.

If all this seems too onerous, delegate these tasks to your staff bookkeeper or pay your CPA to complete them.

Why it matters: Says Rae: “The most valuable planning often happens before December 31, while there is still time to adjust compensation, fund benefits, accelerate deductions and avoid an unpleasant cash-flow surprise.” (Forbes)

» Painful prices: Data shows inflation now hitting businesses hard

» Better bids: What’s the best software to manage them?

» Future focus: CAT opens contech gallery in Peoria

» Advanced approach: Will voxel tech change the way we build?

When the connection is lost, and the customer gets confused or frustrated, they walk—usually without even telling you the deal was even in danger, notes host Mike Trampetti in a recent “Build to Run” podcast.

“And let me tell you what the actual cost is, because this is the part owners skip,” he says. “There's no report anywhere in the company that says they lost the job because the customer chased their own paperwork. Nobody wrote it down. Nobody could write it down because the whole problem is that nobody writes anything down.”

That’s why he recommends clearly stated and followed handoff procedures and “not a vague understanding that people will communicate—an actual written standard for what comes from one division to the next and how it moves and when.”

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The Level is curated and written by Margot Lester and edited by Bianca Prieto