The Four Pillars of Safety

Jeff Aaker, Regional Safety Manager, TopBuild

Jeff is a Safety Manager with a national specialty construction company and has been a safety professional for almost 25 years and is a Certified Safety Professional with masters in occupational safety and health.

Embracing Technology and Tradition

As I was considering what I might contribute to Construction Tech Review readers, I thought about my nearly quarter century in the business of keeping people safe and had to giggle a little to myself. While I love technology and the ways it transforms the work we do; it is also true that what we do in the safety profession, at its core, is the same today as it was so many years ago. I suspect that it will still be true 25 years from now.

I have always been a consumer of technology in its various forms, not just in the safety profession.

I love looking for the latest “thing”, a tool, new fall protection, improvement to ladders, this list is endless. One area I have been heavily involved in for my organization is hard hats. From Edward Bullard’s “hard boiled hat” in the early 1900’s (well before my time) to the advances in type 2 hard hats with the latest in impact absorption and a Bluetooth connection that contains the user’s basic medical info and emergency contact information. Yes, in your hard hat!  It is exciting to experience the constant evolution of safety. 

So, what are the “low tech” fundamentals of the safety business that are at the core of what we do?

I am quite sure that if you asked a hundred safety professionals you would receive a hundred different answers, but I’d like to share my four “pillars” or “cornerstones” of safety that have been the foundation of my career in safety.

Employee Engagement  

Employees are our most important asset. Connecting with employees and developing a trust-based relationship is key. Supervision must do heavy lifting on this topic. Treating employees with respect and more than an employee number creates connections and loyalty . Appreciation for their hard work, which contributes to the mutual success of the organization, cannot be understated either. If employees feel like you have their back, that you care for them personally, it will lead to safer performance and increased production. When an employee trusts that you will take care of them, you will have a solid foundation for your safety program. It is easier to coach or challenge them to make safe choices on the jobsite. It will help you hold them accountable as well. Done correctly, they will feel like they let you down and be disappointed in themselves which gives them a little more focus on choosing to work safely more consistently.

Hazard Identification

An old safety slogan that has always been a favorite due to its simple but powerful wording is “Take two!” Take two seconds to ask yourself two questions when first inspecting any job site. What can hurt me? What am I going to do about it? Whether you have inspection forms, or use cell phones or tablets, training your employees to look at hazard identification is a never-ending process of safety. Your employees represent the “last stand” no matter what your safety program’s different policies and procedures are. This is where your employee faces the greatest risk, the choices they are about to make. Train them to know what to look for, encourage your veteran employees to lead and coach their coworkers, what to do to mitigate the hazards they identify and finally to execute on mitigation. Can they abate some minor hazards, hopefully? If not train that. Do they know how to call you for assistance with those hazards? If not train that as well. Ultimately you need to be able to trust they won’t make an unsafe choice and “raise a hand” when they need help. Managers and front-line supervisors are the ones that make that happen.

Jobsite Safety Inspections by the Supervisory Team

Regardless of the size of your organization, another cornerstone is the supervision teams going to check on their employees while working in the field. Regardless of the method, in terms of technology, what never changes is the need for managers to see and engage their employees while doing their work. From a safety perspective it ensures employees are correctly identifying the hazards at the jobsite, working safely and following their safety training. It is also a great way to check for quality to ensure passing inspections and checking to see if the team has everything they need to do the job safely. It allows for relationship development, with both their employees and customers.

“What we need to manage for a successful safety program and culture is the same now as it was over two decades ago. Go out today and check on and connect with your most valuable asset—your employees.”

Training/ Safety Meetings

You might conduct an “old school” stand-up tailgate style safety meeting in the dark with head lamps turned on at 5 AM. Maybe you use VR to place employees in a safe environment to learn and train. Perhaps you send a group text first thing each morning reminding your team to complete their 3-minute micro-learning safety module for the day. Training remains a pillar of safety. Over the last 20 years the industry has seen so much development and the advancement of training delivery methods. Regardless of how you choose to train, using a variety of methods geared toward the learning styles of your employees to statistically achieve the best learning retention rates never change. Knowing the costs of labor associated with the time spent on safety meetings should lead to a consistent question. “Am I getting my money’s worth out of my safety meetings?” Even if you are not deploying AI or online safety courses, the best training is when your employees consistently execute safe production in the field as a result.

The more things change and evolve the more they stay the same. I often say to my colleagues that my job is to say the same thing over and over and not have you tune out the safety message. That is because what we need to manage for a successful safety program and culture is the same now as it was over two decades ago. Go out today and check on and connect with your most valuable asset—your employees. Oh, and don’t get hurt