Listen and Learn – Safety Week and the “Value of Every Voice”

This year’s theme for Safety Week, “Value Every Voice,” focuses on the role and perspective each craft professional brings to the worksite and workplace each day. Employees have thoughts, ideas and concerns that can contribute to the success and safety of each project. Every idea can have an impact. Some ideas can be motivators for a safer site and help reduce risk. Good ideas can solve problems, whereas even an idea that misses the mark, although it might be dismissed, can stimulate thought and lead to a positive solution or change. It’s crucial and beneficial for site leaders to encourage every employee to use their voice, speak up and make work a safer place.

While the commitment to safety continues to increase in our industry, even the most safety-minded contractors can use this week to review their practices, such as fall prevention. In fact, the most common safety hazard on a construction site is the risk of a fall1 and great majority of them are preventable. A simple review and discussion of proper preparation, hazard identification and utilization of the right safety equipment for a job site may reveal some gaps in understanding and ultimately reduce the incidents of fall numbers.

Further, the benefits of valuing every voice extend beyond safety. The practice can encourage employees to be active players on the job site. Listening to individuals and hearing their ideas can empower employees to be more involved with projects at hand. Personal empowerment stimulates and energizes workers. It encourages involvement and awareness as well as accountability and responsibility, which is of utmost importance when working on a construction site. When communication lines are open, a sense of community and camaraderie develops.

During Safety Week, employers might consider a Safety Stand-Down event. A Safety Stand-Down, which is being promoted by OSHA, is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about safety. Any workplace can hold a Stand-Down event by taking a break to focus on fall hazards and reinforcing the importance of fall prevention. The event gives all sides involved, management and employees, the chance to discuss fall hazards as well as other job threats that could pose a problem on a project site. Recommended topics and activities for these events include discussing the use of harness equipment, taking time to refamiliarize users with proper equipment setup, and giving an overview of the on-site emergency plan to make sure everyone is aware of the correct procedures, taking note of points of contacts, alarm systems and where emergency numbers are posted.

Employees can be a catalyst for change. Valuing every voice, simply listening to everyone, can build trust within a team and help co-workers bond more tightly. All positive results for the site crew, which makes for a safer workplace. Leaders in the construction industry realize the importance of investing in safety and the effect it can have on a company’s culture along with the health, morale and well-being of its employees. Ultimately, open communication and valuing every voice goes beyond building a culture of safety – it benefits the entire company, affecting recruitment, loyalty and project outcomes as well.

As part of its curriculum, NCCER offers a Construction Site Safety Program. Comprehensive in nature, the standardized program addresses both on-site and administrative aspects of construction safety.