For your safety plan, include emergency rescue and response procedures. These procedures should identify site-specific action plans. Who on the site knows CPR? Are employees required to give first aid? Do you have trenches? Does the volunteer fire department come to this site, or is it too far away? Be sure to answer these questions as part of your site-specific plan.

The Important Pre-Lift Meeting
The pre-lift meeting serves a significant role in addressing issues specific to Tilt-Up. As such, it is vital to have fresh eyes and ears at this meeting and to document the discussion. In addition to including details in the agenda and minutes, every member present should be required to sign off on these documents. Go over the Tilt-Up Safety Card — available from the Tilt-Up Concrete Association — sign and date it. Remember, the pre-lift meeting is only good for that lift. Even if you have thousands of lifts under your belt, don't get complacent when it comes to safety. Be as safe on each job as you were on your first job. If you change any member of the project — for instance, a new signalman — you must have a new meeting. If you change the crew, hold a new meeting. Who should attend? The crew, signalman, crane operator, general contractor and anyone else who will be on that site that day. If possible, eliminate the presence of any other trades on the site on lift day so no one accidentally wanders into the wrong spot.

On erection day, certain guidelines must be followed to ensure a safe lift. First, the Tilt-Up contractor should be fully in charge of the site. If you are a Tilt-Up contractor tilting panels on a site, you should own the site that day. Outline this responsibility in your site-specific plan. Next, review the TCA worker safety checklist. The lift crew should wear vests. In addition, the crane’s capacity reduction in wind must be considered. Going vertical, wind, weather and other uncontrollable issues should be taken into account as well.

Ongoing Training
Once the project is completed, the safety process should continue. Accidents tend to happen when workers become complacent or comfortable with a process and therefore skip steps. As such, even the most experienced Tilt-Up crews continue their education and refine their techniques through seminars and networking opportunities. The TCA offers several resources in this category, including seminars and published resource materials. For more information, visit www.tilt-up.org or call 319-895-6911.

Sidebar: Safe Profits Result from Safe Culture
While many companies claim "safety first" as a motto, in reality, profits are often the first concern. Instead, a compromise between the two lines of thought — only a safe profit — must occur. How can a firm truly make a priority of safe profits? Indeed, for many companies a culture change must take place. But while a company’s climate can change immediately, a change in culture may take three to five years. Moving from an unsafe culture to a safe one requires time, but the result is well worth the effort.