The booming construction sector is reckoning with a major safety dilemma as fatalities rise alongside its expanding workforce, driven in part by the aging of the industry’s employee base.

Safety experts are looking to mitigate the risk in part through the use of new technologies such as smartphone applications to conduct inspections.

The total number of construction fatalities has been climbing, with 738 deaths reported in 2011 and 991 deaths reported in 2016, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The leading causes of deaths in the construction industry were falls, electrocutions, struck by object, and caught in or between equipment, according to the bureau.

Fatalities are increasing alongside rising employment in the construction sector, which totaled 7.2 million jobs in June, the highest level since May 2008 and up 4.1% over the past 12 months, says a report by the Arlington, Virginia-based Associated General Contractors of America.

The construction segment had to make some adjustments following the economic meltdown in 2008, said Danette Beck, Valhalla, New York-based national construction practice leader for USI Insurance Services L.L.C.

“Construction companies had to figure out their balance sheets,” she said. “So they kept the most seasoned employees and let go of the junior employees. What you’re also seeing is 45- to 60-year-olds who don’t bounce back as quickly as 20-year-olds do. Those individuals in their early 20s, late 20s didn’t come back when the economy recovered.”

Michael Mills, technical director for construction and energy for Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in Louisville, Kentucky, said “it’s not necessarily that the older workers are getting injured more frequently, but when they do get injured it’s more severe.”

Injuries and illnesses in the construction segment involving days away from work among employees between 45 to 54 years old totaled 17,590 in 2016, down from 19,210 in the prior year, but up from 15,640 in 2014, according to the bureau. Injuries and illnesses reported in the 55- to 64-year-old range have been climbing steadily, from 6,910 in 2011 to 11,990 in 2016.

A 2012 study by CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training in Silver Spring, Maryland, said that while construction work is physically demanding, “older workers may hesitate to switch to less strenuous occupations because a change would entail reduced income or reduced access to pension and health benefits.”

“The big challenge that we’re facing is an aging workforce,” said Geffrey Price, U.S. construction industry practice leader at Marsh Risk Consulting in Chicago. “As we age, our bodies don’t perform as well as when we’re in our 20s. Young people these days coming out of college aren’t looking to go into the construction industry.

They’re technologically savvy. They want jobs that are more computer-related, so it’s difficult to fill the construction ranks.” The technological evolution Overall, 88% of contractors use smartphones on their worksites, with applications and software being the most commonly used safety tool, according to a study by CPWR and New York-based Dodge Data & Analytics released in 2017.

For example, 42% of contractors used safety inspection checklist apps or software, up 12 percentage points from a 2012 study, according to CPWR and Dodge.

There are apps that immediately report worksite incidents or conditions and can include audiovisual and photographic illustrations, Mr. Price said via email. Some apps complete electronic safety orders, while others enable a company to identify key performance indicators important to them or their subcontractors, he said.

Many clients are using different safety applications on mobile devices to communicate with workers and streamline the pretest hazard assessment, said Phil Casto, Chicago-based senior vice president for risk services at Hub International Ltd.

“Before it was a piece of paper you had to fill out, now it’s a little bit more intuitive,” he said. “It’s a series of questions that a foreman goes through on his app, after he completes the questionnaire that turns into his toolbox talk for the day.” A toolbox talk is a safety meeting — often conducted weekly — that focuses on safety issues related to a specific job.

Hundreds of topics are available in various apps, or new topics can be created based on a particular job, Mr. Casto said.

“We’re better able to disseminate information,” he said. “A lot of times paperwork in construction is a difficult thing to keep track of. One more piece of paper is sometimes a hurdle, and technology has done a good job of bridging that gap.”

Apps, smartphones and tablets have helped safety professionals and construction be more effective and productive, Mr. Mills said via email. There are phone apps that allow operators to approximate the noise levels on site, determine the heat index and potential heat stress on the job, he said.

“Prior to phone apps, your only option to measure noise and heat was the use of special instruments to measure these stressors or exposures,” he said. “Because of the advent of tablets and smartphones, safety professionals have a lot more access to data that can help them pinpoint problem areas or contractors that need help more quickly than they ever did before.”