Adopting a Proactive Approach to Construction Safety

Is your safety and health management proactive or reactive? Do you react to events as they occur? Do you respond to problems as soon as they arise? Or do you consider yourself to be more proactive? You look ahead and make plans for what may be ahead. You endeavor to prevent problems from occurring.

We usually talk about proactive and reactive maintenance in construction management. Simply put, reactive maintenance entails repairing things after they break, but proactive maintenance entails preventing them from breaking in the first place. Most firms’ safety programs will most likely include a combination of the two strategies. In some ways, it is proactive, but in others, it is reactive.

To take a proactive approach to safety, here are some recommended practices to adopt in your safety program:

1. Regardless of rank, give everyone on the project the power to call a halt to work if there are any safety issues. Allow work to resume only after the problem has been satisfactorily resolved.
2. Make a safety strategy that is specific to the project and the location. This should be done at the same time that the building plan is being created. Plan how you’ll keep your employees safe as construction continues through each task and phase as you plan how you’ll build and finish the work.
3. Keep an eye on things, analyze them, and make changes as needed. Situations might radically vary from one day to the next as work advances. It’s crucial to understand how shifting situations can result in new safety risks. The most up-to-date information on worksite situations must be used to make continuous adjustments to safety precautions.
4. All personnel should be trained regularly. Employees should be taught how to operate equipment safely and correctly and how to choose and use personal protection equipment (PPE). Remember that an injury does not always have to occur as a result of an accident. Ensure employees are taught suitable ways to perform tasks that cause the least level of stress to their bodies.
5. Establish a safety committee to evaluate all projects’ safety management. Ensure that personnel from all levels of the company, including craft laborers, are involved. They can provide valuable feedback on major concerns that need to be resolved since they know how safety measures are handled on the worksite. They should have a say in determining the safety measures to put in place to control and mitigate risks.
6. Check all subcontractors’ safety records and request a copy of their written safety program. Work with subcontractors to help build the safety plan once you’ve been chosen, as they can provide useful insight into their trade. Ensure that subcontractor agreements include adherence to your site safety plan so that you can hold them responsible.
7. Conduct safety meetings daily or shift-by-shift to discuss particular tasks being executed, safety measures and protocols in place, and any critical issues. Analyze existing hazards as well as any new risks that may arise throughout the day, as well as how to avoid them.
8.  Move beyond a compliance-driven approach to safety. Strive to identify extra precautionary measures and initiatives that you can implement to better protect your employees and avoid mishaps.
9. Evaluate all accidents and safety incidents to find out what caused them. Concentrate less on who was at fault and more on how and why the accidents or near misses occurred. Identifying the underlying cause allows you to better create solutions to avoid future accidents and better protect your employees.
10. Employees should be encouraged to take a proactive approach to construction safety through incentive programs. Empower employees to speak up and report unsafe working conditions or behavior. Instead of encouraging employees not to report incidents, promote safe practices.
11. Perform safety audits on a regular basis. The safety manager can do these internally or externally by contracting a third party to audit your safety program and practices.

People are usually put off by the initial cost of proactive safety measures. After all, there hasn’t yet been a mishap. Perhaps you’ll be fine for another week? Or is it a month? Remember how we said that proactive safety measures cost more in the short run? Well, compared to dealing with and recovering from an accident, that short-term expense will suddenly look like a lot better deal.

Besides the higher expenses, reactive safety management will put more strain on resources and cause more disruption. Not only could a part of your crew be injured as a result of the accident, but you may also need to halt a project while you find the resources to execute the necessary reactionary measures. You also have to investigate the accident, replace injured employees, reassure customers, and deal with insurance and the Health and Safety Executive.

Invest in your safety program like you would in new machinery or supplies to help your company succeed. Taking a proactive attitude to safety can result in increased productivity and job quality. Firms with a good safety record have higher employee satisfaction and a good reputation in their sector.

You can’t, of course, plan for it all. Unexpected events will always occur unless you have a magic ball and can see into the future. However, being more proactive means that you can avoid issues early. As a result, there will be fewer unexpected disruptions, headaches, and catastrophic events.

Individual workers have a responsibility to ensure their own and their coworkers’ safety. It’s critical to create a workplace atmosphere where coworkers feel free to speak up if someone is taking risks. It’s bad enough when an impaired worker injures himself; it’s even worse when he injures other workers or the general public, and it’s even worse when the mishap might have been avoided.