2016 Zero Fatality and Incident Campaign Continues with Ironworker Safety Director Training Course

Ypsilanti, MI, will be the destination for over 3,000 International Ironworker member contractors in North America traveling from all over the United States and Canada during July’s Ironworker Safety Director Training Course, a two-day program created to “assist members with new skill sets to manage a comprehensive company safety program for a signatory contractor, project owner, or general contractor.” This course is one of many initiatives developed in alignment with 2016’s Zero Fatality and Incident Campaign, designed specifically to raise the standard of safety performance among Ironworkers across North America. The sold-out event runs from July 14 through July 15 and was commissioned by Iron Workers General President and IMPACT Labor Co-Chair Eric Dean, who represents more than 130,000 ironworkers in the United States and Canada.

IMPACT (Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust) maintains an ongoing role and partnership with The International Ironworker Board to fund training that strives to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries to the Ironworker. “When you focus on safety, the results come. We have no higher commitment than our commitment to safety, and we make it a point of focus every step of the way,” said General President Eric Dean. “Our next highest commitment is to quality, productive work, which is required to drive the results we consistently deliver.”
 
HazTek Inc.’s Herb Strong will be one of the lecturers, providing insight and inspiration regarding the importance of job hazard analyses and site safety plans. Since 2012, Strong has been working for HazTek Inc., one of North America’s largest occupational health and safety management firms, providing consultation, training, and field services, with headquarters in New Jersey.

Strong first attended the Ironworker Training Week in July 2015 as an invited guest and a member of the Ironworkers/IMPACT International Safety Roundtable, after having spent over 15 years working in safety within the commercial and industrial structural steel industry.
 
"General President Eric Dean and Executive Director of Safety and Health Steve Rank have spearheaded the development of the first-ever Ironworker Safety Director Training Course, which will go a long way in enhancing the continual efforts of achieving zero fatalities on the projects being built by the North American Ironworker,” says Strong. “I am proud to be one of the eight instructors who have developed the material and will be presenting this course."
 
Strong, who is based out of HazTek’s Tampa, Florida office, will be delivering his two-hour training module to 125 participants. During his course, entitled, "Developing and Utilizing a JHA”, he will guide the audience through the creation of a JHA (Job Hazard Assessment), implementation of site safety plans, and documentation of workplace inspections – to identify unsafe acts and conditions in the workplace. 
 
The Ironworker Safety Director Training Course will also be available later in the year in two other major cities. Possible hosts for this compelling safety event appear to be Philadelphia and San Diego, though the selected destinations have yet to be confirmed.