Is Safety Really Number One?

In almost all of my construction management courses, on-line and in-person, I spend time talking about the link between safety, quality, and productivity. I discuss the fact that these elements are inextricably linked, and we cannot ignore one without impacting the others. I recently had the opportunity to get back in to the LinkedIn Learning studios to record updates to several of my courses in the Construction Management series, and found myself emphasizing the link between safety, quality, and productivity even more than I have in the past.?

Nowhere was this more clear than in the updates to the safety and health management course, where I ask an important question:

Is safety really #1

Really…is it the number one thing for a company to focus on? Is it more important than being profitable? Is it more important than getting the job done correctly and on time? I am not sure it is.?

Yes, I said it. But I know I am not the only one thinking it. As the safety champions are out there in the field touting their message that safety is number one, the rest of the field employees are out there thinking, “yeah, as long as I get the work done today.” You can argue all you want, but that is the reality of the situation.?

I think what we mean is that safety is equal to quality and productivity. There is no question that we cannot ignore safety. There is no question that we cannot set aside safe practices in the name of getting the job done. That is not what I mean. I am simply saying that we need to stop putting safety into a silo and treating it differently than the other elements that we manage everyday.?

So why do we do this??

I think that answer is fairly simple. We ignored safety, or at the very least we marginalized safety, for so long that we are now having to overcompensate to bring it to the forefront. For a time, I think this was probably necessary. But I think that time is over. I think its time to evolve. I think its time for us to stop planning tasks for a project and then sending them to the safety manager for review.?

It’s time to stop viewing safety as an add on.?

When we plan tasks, the question we need to be asking is, “how are we going to correctly accomplish this task in a safe and productive manner?” This is the next evolution of safety in construction, and its one that is more realistic and believable. The fact is that all three elements are number one.?

So what does that mean in practice? How do we change the culture to leverage the knowledge and expertise of the different people in our company to embrace the idea that safety, quality, and productivity are inextricably linked and need to be planned together, not one element at a time?

Many companies have the framework in place already. They just aren’t leveraging it properly. The basic framework to get this done lies with our JHA’s (Job Hazard Assessment) and our PTP’s (Pre Task Plan). Many companies have one or both of these elements in place at some level, but the answer to improving the way we approach our work is to leverage these properly.?

JHA’s should be completed far in advance. They are not site specific, they are task specific. The basic process for creating JHA’s is to look at the scope of work your company performs, then begin breaking it into tasks. This could be “grinding concrete”, “sanding drywall”, “pulling electrical wire”, “using a ladder to reach upper levels”, or “performing work from a ladder”. The tasks are very trade and company specific.?

The production of the JHA should be led by a safety manager, or some other safety expert, in conjunction with one or more people who are familiar with actually performing the work in the field. It should analyze a task, identify the hazards, and list controls. To be useful, these should not be generic controls. They should be company specific. For example, when grinding concrete, there are many ways to mitigate the hazard of exposure to silica dust. The JHA should contain explicit directions to the field as to how your company wants the hazard mitigated. It should be explicit, and company specific, addressing your tools, equipment, and materials.?

The PTP’s should be completed much closer to the actual execution of the work, and they should be very site specific. They should address the actual anticipated field conditions on a specific job. These should be completed by the field personnel who will be performing the work, and a safety manager doesn’t necessarily need to be involved. Instead, the crew performing the work can use the expertly prepared JHA’s to help them plan the work they will undertake, and to answer the question of “how will we correctly complete this work in a safe and productive manner?”?

A properly completed PTP is the answer to many of the issues we face every day in construction. It helps determine exactly what tools and equipment will be needed before arrival at the job site, and determines how many people will be needed. It helps avoid rework and provides a script to be successful and efficient in the morning job site huddles. Development of the PTP by the people who will be performing the work forces them to ask for help from others in the company if the site specific task will not let them follow the constraints of the JHA. It also focuses attention on the three equally important elements: safety, quality, and productivity.

Proper use of the JHA’s and PTP’s is essential to getting the work done correctly, safely, and on time. Completed too early or too late in the process cycle, these documents become less useful.?

How does your company use the #jha and #ptp forms? Are they separate documents? Do you prepare the PTP’s far enough in advance of the activity to make them a useful planning tool, but close enough to the scheduled date to take actual site conditions into account? Let me know in the comments below.

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