Posted by Debbi Kuhne on Fri, Jul 09, 2010 @ 09:03 AM
You don’t wake up one day saying to yourself “From now on I’ll be safe”. Being safe is being aware, it’s a learned activity and it becomes a habit. Do you lock the doors in your home? Do you look both ways when crossing a street? These were things that were brought to your attention as safety hazards, you learned what the proper way to prevent an injury was and it became habit. You need to do the same thing with Workplace and Construction Jobsite Safety!
Awareness is the first step in the process. Do your employees know the hazards of the jobsite? You might want to include discussion of the specific job site hazards in your weekly toolbox talks.
The next step is training. If an employee is working in an unsafe manor, allowing him or her to continue will not bring safety to the workplace. Nor will just yelling at them or disciplining them for being unsafe. You need to advise the employee of the unsafe operation and teach them how to do it safely and properly.
The final step is reinforcement of proper and safe workhabits. I have heard that it takes 2 weeks to form a new habit and 2 weeks to break an old one. So, reinforcement and reminders will help to make safe workplace practices the new habit on your jobsites!
Think of the upside to preventing construction injuries:
- Not having to deal with an insurance claim
- Not having an increase in your construction insurance premiums because of the claim
- Not having OSHA visit to investigate the claim
- Keeping your experience mod low, and in doing so not hurting your ability to bid jobs or work for specific general contractors
- Not having to spend money to replace and retrain a new worker to replace the injured one
Posted by Debbi Kuhne on Wed, Jul 07, 2010 @ 12:45 PM
Or maybe I should ask if it is active? Or maybe you haven’t formed one as yet.
The Connecticut Worker’s Compensation Commission Regulations require employers meeting the following guidelines to have a Safety Committee:
- 25 or more employees at any single work site, or;
- A Work–related injury and illness level that exceeds the average incident rate.
So, whether your Connecticut construction company doesn’t have a Safety Committee, or it has gone dormant, here is some information to get you in high gear!
Safety committees need to be comprised of both labor employees and management employees, with at least 50% of the committee being comprised of Labor employees. All departments or major activities of the employer should have representation. Committees are usually comprised of 4-8 people and members usually change annually.
Whether it’s your initial meeting, or you “re-start” meeting, you should begin with electing a Chairperson and Secretary. You should establish how often you will meet and if possible establish a set day and time for future meetings so everyone will be able to automatically have this on their schedule. Also, make sure to pick a meeting schedule that is realistic, such as once a month or quaterly. The secretary must take notes beginning with this first meeting and should publish them for all committee members. Notes should be retained in a file, as it is possible that an OSHA representative may pay you an unexpected visit and request this information!
The purpose of these meetings is to heighten awareness of safety and for the committee and upper management to make a commitment to reduce exposures and provide training and education to make your business or construction job site a safe place to work! Inspections of work areas and job sites as well as discussions of accidents and near misses are some of the items you should have on your standard agenda. Ask for safety suggestions from all your employees – make them an active part of the safe workplace!
The number one place to start reducing injuries is at the Safety Committee Meetings!
If your construction firm needs help starting a Safety Committee, CRA has an on-staff loss control/safety specialist who would be happy to help. Give us a call at (800) 252-9864 or drop us a line to schedule a meeting.