Building a Focus on Safety
A culture of safety can be challenging to implement; however, a construction company can take a number of steps to build the kind of workplace where supervisors and employees are both cautious and productive.
- Top-down commitment. A company’s leadership team must be visibly and verbally committed to safety at all times, rather than simply going through the motions of meeting OSHA documentation rules. Safety should be a frequent topic of discussion, and managers should be held accountable for creating safe worksites through performance evaluations and financial incentives.
- Effective training. Employees need to know the hazards they may face, understand what to do in unsafe situations and be rewarded for adopting safe workplace practices. New employee orientation programs and regular, rigorous safety training, as well as frequent safety huddles, can reinforce protective procedures, bring worker concerns out in the open and highlight daily tasks that may involve hazards.
- The right person for the right job. An employer must ensure effective employee screening policies are in place and require proper certification and training for drivers, crane operators and other workers who perform dangerous or specialized jobs. One of the biggest risk exposures is driving vehicles, yet many companies pay little attention to driver screening and safe fleet practices.
- Site management. Jobsite safety does not only fall to the safety director. A site should be managed by foremen and superintendents who are accountable for the enforcement of the company’s safety practices, particularly when each subcontractor on a job has a different approach to safety.
Partnering for Expertise
Some construction companies look at insurance as just one more cost of doing business, but others wisely turn to their insurers for knowledge and experience in helping reduce accidents and the cost of injuries.
One concrete contractor saw such a partnership pay off when a worker slipped and fell while removing concrete forms. Although OSHA requirements can be met without tie-offs for some above-ground work, the contractor’s insurer worked with the company to implement a 100 percent tie-off program. The worker, secured to a horizontal lifeline, survived the fall without injury.
Another company partnered with an insurer to improve new-hire screening processes, strengthen new employee orientation training, institute industrial hygiene testing of air and dust, and implement a post-injury management program that reduced workers’ compensation costs.
Contractors that focus on safety demonstrate to their employees that they are valued. No employer wants to be responsible for deaths or injuries. From a business perspective, contractors avoid the costs and delays that come with accidents. With the help of the risk management knowledge offered by insurers, construction companies can build a culture of safety that protects their employees and their profits.