Some of the most telling construction data comes not from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS), but rather the experiences of individual
contracting firms. For instance:
•Diamond D General Engineering, Inc., Woodland Calif., has never
logged a lost-time accident since incorporating 16 years ago.
•Hendrick Construction, Charlotte, N.C., has gone six years without an
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injury.
•In four years, Canyon Concrete, Inc., Farmington, Mo., lowered its
experience modification rate (EMR) from 1.15 to 0.84.
•By lowering its EMR to 0.65, Kelley Construction, Louisville, Ky.,
saved approximately $81,000 on its workers' compensation
premium.
What's the secret to their success? Creating a culture of safety.
Where the Movement Begins
Effective contractors don't just say safety is a priority, they show
it. The key is to be as upfront and transparent as possible, often
starting with the interview process.
"When someone walks in the door at Kelley Construction, the first
person they meet is the safety director," says Tim Prakop, who leads
all safety efforts for the commercial and industrial general
contractor. "It immediately puts safety into their head."
In determining whether a candidate will turn out to be a safe,
productive employee, Spencer Defty, president of Diamond D, looks for
a strong work ethic, reliability, honesty and integrity.
"We also look for selflessness. If I get a guy in the interview
process who wants all the money and days off and wants to run the
newest piece of equipment, I know he's not a team player," he says.
"Those who don't ask end up getting it because they're team players
whose attitude and selflessness help keep us safe."
Creating an immediate connection between new employees and safety
managers can help foster a positive relationship down the road.
"At a lot of companies, guys in the field don't have a good
relationship with the safety director and maybe think of them as not
being on the same team," Prakop says. "At Kelley, because I'm involved
with field hiring, our guys do not hesitate to call me and say: 'This
is the situation I'm in. What do you advise me to do?'"
Developing this trust is crucial so employees don't work from a point
of fear, Defty says. If an employee fears he'll be fired for unsafe
behavior, he's less likely to ask questions or report incidents. As a
result, a sincere, personalized approach proves more effective than a
mandate from above.
This is particularly relevant for small business owners, who often
know all of their employees and families by name.
"I always tell our people that everyone has an obligation to return
each other to their loved ones in the exact same condition as when
they left home," says Defty, who employs about 25 people. "It starts
with myself, down to laborers, operators and office staff. There's an
emphasis and obligation on everyone to work as a team."
Putting the Movement in Motion
When Roger Hendrick decided to open his Charlotte-based general
contracting firm six years ago, he turned to Mel Rosa, a former
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliance
officer with whom he'd worked in the past, for help implementing a
quality safety program.
Recalls Rosa: "Roger said, 'I want to start it right and I want
everyone 30-hour OSHA trained. You tell me what else I need to do.' We
started off with safety classes and training, and I reinforced that
things would come to a screeching halt if a safety incident happens.
Roger gave his full support and has always been very proactive."
Rosa, who now owns a consulting firm called RSS Safety, visits
Hendrick Construction a few times a month to help train employees on
everything from first-aid to fall protection and fire prevention. He
also helps with job hazard analyses and performs mock inspections as a
way to demonstrate the penalties or liability exposures the firm would
face if OSHA made an unannounced visit.
Last year, the company hired a full-time safety director, Bryan
McGucken, to supplement Rosa's expertise.
"I convinced Roger it would be best to find someone from inside the
company and train him to be in charge of safety," Rosa says. "Most
superintendents already know about safety. They just need to be taught
the laws and regulations."
Rosa, a master trainer through the National Center for Construction
Education and Research, is now taking
McGucken, a superintendent, through a certified safety technician
course as well as OSHA training.
Having at least one staff member dedicated to safety is a significant
investment for a small contractor, but it can make a big difference,
says Von Marler, safety and training manager for Canyon Concrete. When
Marler joined the 25-year-old concrete specialist about four years
ago, his mission was to revitalize the small firm's "canned" safety
policy. The first thing he did was initiate weekly safety talks that
cover issues related to upcoming jobs or recently released industry
data.
Prakop uses weekly jobsite meetings and monthly training sessions to
present material that will open Kelley Construction employees' eyes
about the importance of jobsite safety, including staggering
statistics on alcoholism in the workplace and the number of fatalities
that result from contact with electricity.
Rather than lecturing, having employees respond to questions or share
their personal experiences are effective ways to explore safety topics—
whether it's reviewing the warning signs of a stroke or examining what
caused the death of a grade checker on a nearby job.
"Let's learn from other people's mistakes," Defty says, recalling a
local subcontractor that experienced its first lost-time accident when
a seasoned employee attempted to complete a five-minute job without
protective gear and ended up with third-degree burns. "Safety problems
don't discriminate against anything—age, race or work experience. You
have to be vigilant because it can all go bad in a split second."
Cultural Roadblocks
Documentation is one area that requires constant attention—and incurs
some of the most resistance from supervisors who are reluctant to take
the time to provide detailed paperwork on jobsite safety inspections
or incident reports.
"One thing I'm struggling with right now is getting accurate reporting
with first-aid injuries," Marler says. "Some guys have the 'manly man'
attitude of not admitting they're hurt, but by emphasizing the
importance we're starting to move in the right direction, and I'm
seeing more reports of things like scrapes."
In safety-conscious companies, these inspections and reports spur
ideas for future talks and training.
Finding time to train is another challenge, particularly for companies
like Kelley Construction, which performs 80 percent of its work 100
miles or more from its Louisville base. Prakop addresses this problem
by training local workers in the office and providing onsite training
for crews on out-of-state jobs. He picks a topic each month and makes
it his mission to get the message to everyone in the company.
"You can never train enough because it creates awareness, and safety
truly is about awareness," Prakop says.
At Canyon Concrete, staff undergoes more than 30 hours of safety
training (OSHA and Mine Safety and Health Administration) within the
first six months of employment. Marler, a former teacher, administers
much of the training in-house, and last year the company invested in a
new conference area with a TV, computer interface and media center to
aid his efforts.
According to Rosa, a more problematic barrier embedded in many
contractors' corporate makeup is basing their bonus system for
superintendents on coming in under budget and ahead of schedule. If
safety costs aren't separated from project costs, then safety programs
are likely to be the first thing cut to help meet deadlines and
financial benchmarks. This philosophy encourages employees to push
safety aside when making on-the-spot decisions (e.g., they might skip
renting a trench box—saving time and money—and try to finish the task
quickly so nobody notices).
The key, Rosa says, is for contractors to change their routine to
include safety personnel in the early stages of projects so they know
exactly what safety hurdles may arise and can plan for all the
necessary equipment to be ordered.
Subcontractors must be on board with the safety program from the
beginning as well. In addition to creating a subcontractor handbook,
Prakop requires subcontractors to submit their safety program to the
superintendent when they first arrive onsite; if it doesn't measure
up, they are required to follow Kelley's program.
Hendrick Construction even posts its entire safety program on its
website and requires subcontractors to sign a document saying they'll
follow the general contractor's policies. "Many companies will brag
about being safe, but they aren't open about the specifics of their
safety requirements," Rosa says. "By putting it online, there's no
excuse for a subcontractor to say, 'I didn't know you required that,'
because we tell them upfront."
Rewarding safe behavior with T-shirts and gift cards can be another
effective way to motivate employees. However, this cannot be the
driving force of a safety program because these incentives don't flow
down to subcontractors. A subcontractor's incentive to be safe, Rosa
says, is the increased likelihood of receiving a preferential contract
due to its quality reputation.
The Value of Change
As owners increasingly require bidders to supply evidence of their
safety records, a quality safety reputation can put general
contractors at the forefront of the prequalification process and
translate into more work.
"When workers know they're safe, they concentrate on quality of work,"
Rosa says. And when customers get higher quality work, there's no need
for re-work, which leaves both parties satisfied and more willing to
collaborate again in the future.
Prakop has found a respectable safety record to be especially valuable
in the petroleum industry, where last summer a 10-person Kelley crew
outfitted in flame-resistant clothing completed an oil refinery
project in Garyville, La., without logging a heat-related incident.
"If a customer wants to ask us to work for them again, our safety
means a lot in terms of reputation," he says.
Plus, accumulating impressive records allows contractors to qualify
for state and national safety programs such as OSHA's Voluntary
Protection Program or
Associated Builders and Contractors' Safety Training and Evaluation
Process (STEP).
STEP—which offers bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels of
achievement—provides contractors large and small with an organized
approach to developing and analyzing long-term safety and loss-
prevention programs, as well as measuring their year-over-year progress.
Last year's STEP participants, two-thirds of which have fewer than 100
employees, boast:
•fatality rates 58 percent below the national construction average
(per 2007 BLS data);
•DART rates 29 percent below the national average;
•OSHA incidence rates 31 percent below the national average;
•90 percent fewer OSHA citations than the industry average;
•mod factors well below 1.00; and
•significant insurance savings.
"STEP gave me a good outline and starting point when I came on board,"
Marler says. "Even as I filled out the application again this year, I
saw some areas where I know we need to do more work."
For example, next on Marler's to-do list is to formalize Canyon
Concrete's job safety analysis program. In 2008, he instituted a seat
belt policy for drivers and
passengers. Though a few fines were incurred at first, he hasn't
noticed any infractions in the past few months—a simple example of
cultural change.
Certainly a quality safety program eliminates some of the egregious
expenses associated with running a construction company, but
contractors should shy away from focusing only on the financial side
of the equation, Defty says. "The best thing business owners can do is
personalize safety in a sincere way so employees truly understand they
are concerned about them and their loved ones."
