Construction Safety: It’s Everybody’s Business

With construction costs soaring and the marketplace becoming increasingly competitive, protecting the bottom line and maximizing revenues are paramount to every construction business owner, general contractor and subcontractor.

How can a business owner avoid injuries, lower workers’ comp claims and make projects go faster?

Chris Cockerell, president of Safety Guys a provider of on-site safety design and management, offers some advice: “Every trade has a specific duty. To have a task performed to its best, you will hire a specialist. Based on that fact, general contractors build a building and supervise the subcontractors. The subs specialize in their specific trades. Everyone is responsible for their own safety-unfortunately, it often ends up a secondary priority to the job. An easy solution is to hire an outside safety contractor that is an expert in the field. Safety has become a new trade and is now sometimes listed as a separate line item when it was previously included under ‘general conditions.’”

“Contractors using a safety consultant firm have reduced the GC’s workmen’s comp experience modifier significantly, saving up to 30 percent in safety costs-less injuries, less OSHA incidents and violations. The contractor then attracts the best subcontractors to that contractor’s projects because the subcontractor, as a direct result, will also have a lower experience modifier. OSHA then visits that contractor’s jobsite less frequently, and when they do visit, they can be welcomed onto the jobsite reducing time spent scrambling around to prepare,” Cockerell says.

To make your safety program world-class, there are some basic principles that should be employed by every construction business owner. Training, communication, enforcement, reward, availability of safety tools and measures and innovations are the tools.

Training from the Bottom Up

As to training, most contractors need to flip the existing model. A lot of safety training is currently done from the top down, with senior management trained first and the training then cascading to the lower levels of workers. “If you train from the top down, you are giving the most training to the people who are senior, who are trained and seasoned and have been with you and will stay with you over time. They are the minority of the company, particularly in the subcontractor arena,” says Cockerell. “However, when you train directly from the bottom up, you are training the transient workers, many with no knowledge of safety, which is everyone’s biggest liability.”

Cockerell also advises providing on-the-spot training. When an employee is working in an unsafe manner, take that person aside and provide instant training. If you just fire the person for doing something unsafe, you are only passing this problem to the next person.

There are certain construction-related safety courses available, many of which are OSHA-related. Recommended trainings for high-rise construction would be the following:

• Site orientation is a popular method for providing basic safety training for all workers onsite. Give the employees an ID number when they finish the class, and monitor that number to make sure they have no safety violations.
• The OSHA thirty-hour course should be provided to foremen.
• The OSHA ten-hour course should be provided to all laborers and carpenters onsite.
• The OSHA Rigging course teaches how to fly materials with a crane.
• The Forklift Driving Course is required for anyone driving a forklift on a jobsite. This includes learning how to inspect the forklift before using it each morning.
• Flaggers must be trained on the Department of Transportation (DOT) Traffic Control course.
• Bulkhoist operators need to be trained by the supplier of the equipment on how to operate and how to maintain it.
• CPR courses should also be offered.
• Foreman and carpenters taking the ten- and thirty-hour OHSA courses should also be provided with one to two of these additional classes.

Produce a Safety Manual and Enforcement Policy

Clearly communicate the company’s safety policy and consequences of not following that policy. It should be clear that the jobsite has a zero tolerance policy for safety violations. Therefore, effective enforcement of safety policies is essential. The enforcement policy should be outlined in the jobsite safety manual which is reviewed with employees during site orientation.

A suggested enforcement policy follows: The site orientation is considered the first warning meaning that procedures are outlined and strict adherence is advised. The second warning involves having the general contractor write the employee up, provide written warning to the subcontractor/supervisor of the employee and require a second attendance at site orientation plus on-the-spot training. By the third warning, the employee is called in to meet with the GC, re-cited and asked to leave the jobsite. The subcontractor/employer can get the employee retrained, transferred to a different jobsite, or terminate the employee.

A general contractor or subcontractor foreman should never walk past a safety violation without dealing with the situation. This sets the tone for a safe jobsite.

Reward Good Safety Practices

Reward, of course, enforces good behavior. There are many ways to reward effectively. You can provide stickers for those who successfully attend site orientation to wear on their hardhats. You can set up a safe site program, and when there are no injuries on a site, you can host an event or celebration. On a smaller scale, you can set up a deal with the local lunch truck and give out a free lunch per day and have the safety director walk the site and give instant rewards to those who are working safely.

Provide Appropriate Safety Equipment and Accessibility

What are the tools and measures to make the jobsite safe and to get employees to buy-in? There are a few key areas. Personnel protection equipment (harnesses, safety glasses, earplugs, hardhats, lanyards, retractables, etc.) and personal fall protection (anchorage points, perimeter railings, anchor points in the building, hole covers, etc.) need to be placed in the building in such a way that they do not get in the way of the trades and are easily accessible-no one should have an excuse not to tie off!

“It is of critical value to a jobsite to have approved anchor strap anchor points for all of your workers. These anchors get installed during construction on the working deck. This process ensures that all workers exposed to a fall can easily reach and find an anchor consistently on every floor in the same place to tie-off,” says Raymond Nel, vice-president of operations for Safety Guys.

OSHA has minimum load requirements for safety materials. When designing and installing safety railings and materials, make sure they meet requirements and that those installing have a clear understanding of those requirements. Design your railings so they sit as close to the edge of the building as possible to reduce the amount of times anyone needs to be tied off in the building. It is advisable to install these railings with consideration to other trades. You should also make accommodations for windows and concrete block so that a railing section can easily be removed for the trades to do their work without damaging or removing an entire section.

Make sure the netting that you use is usable and durable. It is important to use an outrigger netting system that works with the type of construction of the building you are working on. If you are unsure of what system is best for the building, contact a safety specialist for advice. Different netting systems that are in operation include:

• Working deck nets to contain all concrete splatter from the working deck
• Outrigger nets to catch any debris falling from the working deck or two floors below
• Drop nets that contain any debris from masons working on the edge of the slab
• Balcony nets to catch any debris from stuccoing the edge of the slab at the balcony, the ceiling of the balcony, the walls of the balcony and painting all of the above
• Swing stage nets that contain concrete preparation debris and excess stucco down the side of the building

Providing a job with the correct perimeter protection and debris containment visually impacts anyone who looks at the building and mentally strengthens the sense of safety awareness of those working in the building.

The final word on an effective safety strategy: Take into account your surroundings, including the nationalities of those you employ. Make sure training is available in the pertinent languages of your employees. Understand the cultures that you have available on your jobsite.

Instill a sense of pride for a safe workplace. Give employees a certificate or a card that shows they completed and complied with safety training. Make it clear that safety is everybody’s business.

Construction Business Owner, April 2007