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Building
a Culture of Safety on Construction Sites
Ideas
for establishing a 'want to' instead of 'have to' safety program
By Jim Stanley
President, FDRsafety
Brentwood, Tenn.
Multi-tasking has
evolved from a talent to a necessity to keep up with the pace of everyday
productivity. Whether an employee is talking on a cell phone while working, or
not wearing his/her personal protective equipment, many employees have placed
themselves and other at needless risk to save time or be more comfortable. The bottom line is that the majority of
accidents are not due to a lack of
training, skill or knowledge--nearly all accidents are simply related to poor
decision-making. This comprehensive look at building a culture of safety will
examine the philosophy, accountability and structure needed to develop a
successful construction safety program.
Personal Terms
Think back to the
person who taught you the first safety rule; possibly your mother giving you a
warning about a hot stove (Hot, don't touch!). When most people are pushed into
a decision, they are more likely to rebel against it, until they truly
understand the rationale and risk behind the decision. The "it could never
happen to me" attitude fills up emergency rooms throughout the United States
on a daily basis with serious injuries, many of them life threatening.
Sadly, carelessness
in the work place and the pressure to produce tend to go hand-in-hand and, in
some cases, are rewarded. Too often, it
is easier for a foreman to turn a blind eye and cross his or her fingers when
observing a safety rule being violated, than to slow down the process with
enforcement, follow through and responsibility.
Time, effort, comfort
and peer pressure are the foremost reasons employees commit unsafe acts when
they know better, but don't do better. Many employees don't like being required to
attend safety training sessions, or in some cases, obey safety rules. Many construction
companies establish safety as a top priority, but send mixed messages when something
more important bumps safety to the back burner. Employee safety should be a
value and a lifestyle with a 24/7 approach.
Accountability for Actions
The superintendent,
foreman and lack of company training efforts are ultimately responsible for
sustaining a culture that "permits" unsafe behavior. If there is no consequence
for violating company safety rules, no way to enforce the safety program, and
no program to point to any bottom-line accountability, a major change in the
existing program needs to be implemented.
Specifically, there are three key pillars of an effective construction safety
program:
-
Commitment from senior management. -
Active implementation of a formal
safety program led by mid-management (i.e., foreman or superintendent). Employee involvement and practice
through example and demonstration, not directives.
It's not enough to
make safety a priority. Safety must become an inherent company value because
priorities always change, and such a commitment always begins at the top. All
individuals want to succeed, best echoed by the old saying: "What interests my
boss, fascinates me."
The term
"accountability" typically tags along with a negative connotation of punitive
or disciplinary action. In a compliance context, this word translates to
everyone owning responsibility for individual safety. There are three types of
accountability...
-
Personal accountability. -
Peer accountability. Management accountability.
Liabilities
While conventional
wisdom says employees criticize companies that impose strong disciplinary
actions toward safety measures, the opposite is usually the case. Construction
companies with a high regard for safety demonstrate a greater level of care and
concern for employee well-being. When safety standards break down, serious injuries
or even fatalities can occur, leaving families shattered due to carelessness
and irresponsibility. Some of the most hazardous issues include:
-
Falls -
Struck or Caught by Electrical
While slips, trips
and strains may happen, fatalities and serious injuries are real and typically
related to one of the three areas above. For example, what would happen if
there were no police to monitor traffic on the roads? You'd have a recipe for
disaster. The same principle holds true with safety measures on a construction
site. Cost and productivity correlate directly with companies who demonstrate a
strong baseline safety program led by frontline supervision and employee participation.
Safety becomes part of the job -- it's universal.
Zero Tolerance
Companies need to
have highly detailed safety procedures in place, ensure and account for
employee training and awareness, and ultimately a zero-tolerance policy for any
violations. Employers must create a system of accountability that includes:
-
Thorough training -
Strong policy -
Documentation Accountability to follow through
with safety rules
To look at it another
way, many construction companies may terminate an employee due to excessive
tardiness or theft, while overlooking a serious breach in safety rules. Yet safety
deals directly with physical well-being, including guarding against serious
injury or fatal accidents. Therefore, employers need to address the issue of
safety both severely and consistently. Confrontation may be unpleasant, but an
employee may never get a second chance to do his or her job safely if proper
compliance measures are not taken seriously.
10 Words for Safety
Safety is about
creating an environment where employees want
to be safe because it's the right thing to do. A safety awareness snapshot
illustrating FDRsafety's "10 words for safety" seminar concept, is illustrated
below.
Time Safety Value Comfort Have to Family
Want to
Accountability
To bring the concepts
into the context of construction operations, consider the following question: "What are the top three most important
things in life?" employees commonly answer in the following manner:
-
Family -
Faith Health
"If someone were to say that he/she would hurt a member of
your family, what would you do?"
Most people would do anything in their power to stop that from happening.
Safety values,
whether at work or at home, have the power to protect or ruin your family,
faith and health. If an unsafe action were to undermine any one of these values,
would shaving off a few extra minutes by not putting on protective equipment or
skipping steps through a safety procedure still seem as important in its
possible consequence? Safety shouldn't be a 'have to' it should be a 'want to.'
Preparing an Effective Safety Program
FDRsafety's recommendations
for establishing a successful safety initiative are listed below.
Action items
for top management
-
Safety begins first with top
management: focus on visual concepts, not just words. -
Create a program that makes sense
to management and workers. -
Identify where issues exist and implement
a program that serves best. Fully understand the
responsibility and requirement to wear personal protective equipment.
Encouraging a culture
of safety
Encourage employee involvement and
feedback. Develop a safety committee with
the authority to create and implement changes. Select an employee from the workforce
to function as a full-time safety coordinator with the responsibility of
making safety changes without
disciplinary authority.
Safe and Efficient
While the construction
industry has progressed dramatically in increased productivity and quality, the
on-site injuries are more prevelant, especially in the media. FDRsafety
encourages a holistic approach to safety on construction sites. We believe a
construction worksite can have quality work, be productive, and have an
effective safety program at the same time.
back to top
 James W. Stanley joined FDRsafety,
LLC, in March 2004 as President. He joined AK Steel in 1996 as Vice President
of Safety and Health after serving the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for nearly 25 years. He joined OSHA in
1971 as a maritime safety officer in the Philadelphia
area office. In 1973 he was named supervisory safety and health specialist for
the Pittsburgh
office. In 1987 he was named regional administrator for the New York office
and, in 1994, Mr. Stanley was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSHA in
Washington, D.C. Mr. Stanley has served on the National Safety Council's Board
of Directors as well as the National Safety Council's Executive Committee as
Chairman of the Trustees. He is a member of the Association of Iron and Steel
Engineers (AIST), where he serves as Chairman on the AIST Safety & Health
Committee. He is also an advisor to the Board of Trustees for SHIELD (Safety
and Health for Industrial Education and Labor Development). On January 2, 2003
the US
Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao appointed Mr. Stanley to the National
Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH). This 12-person
committee advises the Secretaries of Labor and Health and Human Services, on
occupational safety and health programs. Mr. Stanley holds a Bachelor of
Science degree in business administration from Elizabethtown College.
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ABOUT FDRsafetyFDRsafety has been helping companies like
yours improve their safety performance for the last 13 years. For additional
information, please visit www.fdrsafety.com or call 888-755-8010.
Thank you and Be Safe.
FDRsafety
278 Franklin Road
Brentwood, Tennessee 37027
888-755-8010
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