Safety is the Gift That Keeps on Giving

There’s one gift that doesn’t fit neatly under a tree, yet keeps on giving year-round — the gift of enhanced safety on the jobsite.

With the end of the year upon us, you may be wondering what to give employees to show your appreciation for all their hard work and efforts over the past 12 months. While there are numerous options available, there’s one gift that doesn’t fit neatly under a tree, yet keeps on giving year-round — the gift of enhanced safety on the jobsite.

No matter how effective your company’s safety program is, there’s always room for improvement. The year-end is a good time to review what worked, what didn’t and what could use a little updating.

Top Ten Construction Safety Tips

Start by evaluating your written safety policies to determine if they are still current. Do the policies and rules still apply based on the processes, equipment and technologies currently in use on your sites? Do they still fit given the changing dynamics of the construction workforce?

Next, I suggest having a candid discussion with your field operations managers to identify specific areas of concern they have encountered or observed. Also think about consulting with industry peers to uncover problems and/or solutions they’ve encountered that could influence safety on your own sites.

In addition, you can sit down with field staff and safety personnel to re-examine reportable incidents that occurred during the year, including those involving subcontractor workers. Taking a fresh look at such “safety fails” well after the dust has settled could help you identify further steps to mitigate risk that may have been missed in the frenzied early days and weeks following the incident.

Whenever possible, your review should include any “near misses” since they are, in essence, accidents that were in the process of occurring but luckily didn’t. Since luck doesn’t hold out forever, treat near misses in a manner similar to reportable accidents. Work to identify what happened, why it happened and how it could have been prevented. This will improve the chance that yesterday’s near miss doesn’t become a reportable incident — with potential personnel and/or economic losses — on a future project.

Don't Fail When It Comes to Safety

Because there’s no way to foresee or avoid every possible incident, your evaluation should include a review of the procedures to be followed in the event of an accident, as well. All too often tragedy is compounded when workers attempt to conduct rescues they aren’t properly trained or equipped to handle. Make sure a list of procedures to follow is clearly outlined and that all workers receive instructions on these steps in order to maximize the safety of all involved.

Finally, consult with a safety expert to incorporate the necessary changes/updates using the appropriate language, procedures and/or instructions. The revised program should be distributed to, reviewed with and understood by all members of your staff.

Taking time to evaluate your company’s safety program on a regular basis will help maximize the chances that workers in this high-risk industry return home to their families at the end of each day — and that really is the best gift you can give them.

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