ForConstructionPros.com

Recently, I got a call from "Bob", the owner of a West Coast general contracting firm, expressing concerns about my column on safety programs in our August issue ("The High Cost of Not Playing it Safe"). Ironically, his concerns weren't with what the column said, but rather with what he felt it left out.

While the column stressed the need for employees to understand and follow safety procedures, Bob believes it left out the most important component - company leadership. Too often, employees are expected to know how to work safely, he states. Yet, management fails to provide the daily guidance required to do so.

"You have to demonstrate an interest, as a leader, in not just getting the job done," he says, "but in making sure the job gets done in a certain manner."

Project managers, field supervisors, etc. may assume employees know the steps they have to follow to complete a job safely. Consequently, these "leaders" may neglect to provide proper instruction or, worse yet, fail to correct poor behavior.

Even some training programs place the burden on employees' shoulders. "A lot of the training we go to is 'old school', where it's the employees' responsibility for their own safety," Bob points out. "We kind of take a dim view of that because we think the management - the leaders - can help increase safety if they supply the rules [workers] have to follow to instill safety in the context of the job."