SEPTEMBER 2015 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \
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ness that typifies our year-round safety commitment. The guiding premise
of “Many Roles – One Goal” is for our industry to treat worker safety as a
non-competitive and collaborative mission. Our effort has garnered much
valued support from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
and several leading industry associations.
While Safety Week has come and gone, our mission of sending everyone
home safely continues. The daily safety process includes providing all the
proper training and the right gear while also recognizing and mitigating the
inherent risks on a job site. These are tasks that our companies take seriously.
The deeper challenge is winning over the hearts and minds of those in
harm’s way. That is why our safety orientations are not just about making
employees aware of work requirements; they are about understanding the
true cost of unsafe work. We include families in safety awareness events to
remind them that their loved ones are counting on them. We drive home
the point that no budget or deadline is ever worth cutting corners. A culture
of caring and practiced caution is how we stay safe.
As our industry continues to embrace the safety culture, the driving moti-
vation is our workers’ health. However, it is important to note that promot-
ing safety helps give our industry many other positive results.
In a recent survey, 71 percent of respondents said safety programs have had
a positive impact on the number of reportable injuries. At the same time, a
little more than half of those surveyed said safety practices also had a pos-
itive effect on their projects’ return on investment to include productivity
and workmanship. A safe project is usually productive and profitable!
The tough-guy construction image may not go away anytime soon. But the
next time you see one of the millions of men and women of our industry
wearing a hard hat, just know there may be something you do not see – the
photos of their children tucked inside, their daily reminder of why safety
matters.
*The author is the National Director of Safety at Adolfson & Peterson Con-
struction. A&P was a co-sponsor of the construction industry’s Safety Week
2015.
\\
Photos courtesy Adolfson & Peterson
Construction
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