I was listening to a transcript from a CEO interview that discussed the integration of disabled people into a manufacturing plant. What caught my attention is that while disabled workers were assigned to operations which their disability did not prevent them from performing, these people had insights into how to improve their operations to even better address their disability. The improvements not only increased their efficiency, but the improvements also allowed able-bodied workers in the plant to complete the same operations more efficiently.

It’s a cause for wonder. What if we planned and managed our construction job sites to accommodate disabled plumbers, electricians and other tradespersons to join the project team? We know that the site cleanliness required to permit access would be beneficial to work efficiency. What might we learn from disabled construction workers that would help us all to be better at constructing buildings?