By Jeremie Budesa, Resource Manager
There is no room for excuses! The construction industry suffers a high number of fatalities and accidents every year, with the main reason being the failure to adhere to safety guidelines. This calls for a solid focus on construction job safety throughout the life of a project. Everyone involved must understand and obey to the rules. Your company is the one to spearhead such an effort. You simply need to make it your culture. Construction safety must become part of your company’s DNA so that your workforce stays safe and your projects remain on track. Below we provide some advice on how to build a safety culture and promote construction site safety.
Plan for Safety
Construction safety is not just a general notion that you can afford to ignore. You have to take into account and be prepared for any possible hazard that puts your workers’ safety at risk. A great way to do that is to include safety in every aspect of your project, from the beginning to the end. Break down the project into phases and identify threats and dangers. Once you know what you are up against, have safety talks with your teams to educate everyone on what needs to be done. Remember that a live jobsite changes every minute and creates new risks, so have regular safety updates with your workers to promote construction site safety.
Train Everyone All the Time
Let’ be clear. No worker should set foot on the jobsite without first going through the necessary safety training. You need to give your new staff a safety orientation during which you explain to them the safety requirements and you identify construction safety risks and solutions. You also need to ensure that your new hires are trained on how to use tools and equipment for the project. Since there are always new technologies and machinery coming into the construction industry, you need to make sure that your workforce is properly trained to meet safety expectations and foster construction job safety throughout the project.
Subcontract Safety
Making construction safety a culture should not be limited to the boundaries of just your company. It must become the norm in the way you conduct business with subcontractors as well. You need to promote construction site safety by making certain that your partners adhere to safety requirements and strive for construction job safety. The contractors you work with must provide workers who comply with OSHA regulations and legislation at all times and they have to share your company’s business practices and sensitivity for a safer work environment.
Stay on Top
Some organizations believe that the only thing they have to do to promote construction site safety is to train their workers at the early stages of the project. Well, there is much more involved than that. In order to make construction safety your company culture you need to stay on top of it. You need to have regular safety talks to evaluate your workforce’s safety performance. You also need to review near misses and accidents to see what went wrong and what kind of corrective action is needed. Go out there and inspect the jobsite on a regular basis to check for safety loopholes and risks. In other words, stay on top of safety.
Work with a Construction Recruiter
Staying up-to-date with safety requirements and ensuring that your workforce complies with construction safety is a huge task that companies struggle to keep up with. An effective way to reduce the amount of effort you put into it is to join forces with a respected construction recruiter. The reason for this lies in the fact that a reputable construction staffing firm takes construction safety seriously and knows how safety programs work. They make it their priority to provide you with skilled workers who are trained and who conform to safety rules throughout the project. They are your trusted partner in making construction safety your culture.
Key Takeaways to Making Construction Safety Your Culture:
1. Put a safety plan together and educate everyone on the actions to be taken
2. Train your workforce on safety and adopt new safety requirements
3. Ensure that the subcontractors you work with share the same safety values with you
4. Take all necessary actions to stay on top of safety
5. Work with a construction recruiter to receive workers who conform to safety rules
About TradeSource
Founded in 1993, TradeSource is a construction labor solutions firm focused on delivering labor solutions to contractors throughout the United States. By supplying skilled tradespeople – where and when they’re needed – we help contractors grow their companies, without the associated costs and hassles of full-time hires. Likewise, we match qualified employees with rewarding and well-paying job opportunities in the construction industry. www.tradesource.com
