Ihab Saad – Safety Program
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of creating a comprehensive safety and health program with clear guidelines and goals for safety audits and regular job site inspections. They stress the importance of individuals being trained and accountability for safety and health, as it shows the consequences of failure to follow rules and regulations. The World Health Organization is conducting a safety training program for all employees, emphasizing personal safety and health training, creating a safety record, and monitoring hazards. Safety policies and procedures are emphasized, and employees are advised on proper equipment and tools for safety and health concerns. Safety programs must run through the entire organization and all leaders must lead by example.
AI: Summary ©
Welcome to another lecture on construction safety, and today
we're going to discuss construction safety and health
program. What are the ingredients of that program, what's the
importance of the program, and how to implement it within a
construction organization and work environment.
So any construction company must have a written and documented
safety and health program for several reasons, including ethical
reasons, regulatory reasons, economic reasons and practical
reasons. So we're going to discuss each one of these sets of reasons
and see why does it make sense to have a written safety program
for the ethical factors it is the right thing to do as we have the
right and the ethical obligation to protect our employees on site,
it reflects the company's commitment to the employee's
health, safety and well being. And companies without such a plan
experience 30% or more, 30% more accidents than those with plans,
as we're going to see later on, or as we have already learned that
having a written safety program and enforcing it can help reduce
the penalties once the company is cited for any safety violations,
and that reduction can be up to 25% which is not small change
regulatory factors. Federal and state regulations require that the
companies maintain a safe and healthy work environment. Some
federal regulations specifically require a written plan to focus on
specific issues, such as a fall protection plan. You have to have
a clear fall protection plan with proper training for the employees
who might be subject to falls emergency action plan in case of
injury or in case of fatality, what should one do? What should
the people on site do? Blood borne pathogens and exposure control
plan, especially with AIDS, HIV and other blood transmitted
diseases if someone gets injured and there's blood on site. How to
protect oneself. Having a comprehensive plan leads to more
than compliance, as it helps establish a high quality work
environment. People are going to have the feeling that the company
cares for them, and therefore they're going to perform in a
better way.
For economic factors, accidents and injuries are directly and they
were indirectly, expensive, directly because of the cost of
treatment or the cost of compensation and so on, and
indirectly, because the low morale, the low lost productivity
and the delays that might result from
shutdown of the site during the investigation and for the repairs,
a good health and safety plan can save the company a lot of money
related to the following, holding down insurance costs. That's a
direct cost, reducing cost in litigation resulting from injuries
or fatalities, God forbid, reducing temporary and permanent
disability claims, increasing employee morale and therefore
productivity, securing a good reputation and track record
leading to more contracts. Definitely, owners are going to be
more interested in contracting with someone who has a good safety
track record, rather than a shoddy one, reducing the number of
Compliance Inspections and associated citations and penalties
resulting down from we have learned during the lecture on
penalties and citations and inspections, that these can be
very costly. So definitely, that's a very viable economic factor,
practical factors. The practical reasons for implementing the plan
include forcing the company to put its commitment in writing. So we
claim that we are a safety conscious organization. Let's put
that in writing, and let's implement that, forcing the
company to establish policies and set goals for safety and health.
If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. So we have to put some
guidelines and some concrete measures to how to achieve that
safety in order to improve safety performance on site, commits in
writing the procedures that must be followed by all employees and
subcontractors, so no one can claim I didn't know,
and facilitates communication of policies, procedures and goals
related to the quality of the work environment. So we are all
speaking the same language.
Different components of the plan include the safety and health
policy, safety and health goals, roles and responsibilities of the
different personnel, discipline, policy and procedures in case
someone does not abide by the rules, job site inspections,
accident investigations, record keeping, what kind, what kind of
records have to be kept. How often, where are they going to be
post posted training. How often should that training be renewed
and refreshed? Medical Response and first aid in case of any
accidents, what's the closest medical facility? For example,
emergency response and miscellaneous components like
fault protection.
Performing housekeeping on a daily basis, again, to maintain the site
in a neat and clean environment, and having and displaying a
positive attitude towards safety that is shared with everyone else,
the supervisor and the top management as well.
The safety professional responsibility include that's
going to be the safety manager, for example, on site, performing
the safety audits, performing regular job site inspections.
They're going to be specialized in safety, performing hazard
analysis, to try to analyze the situation and the tasks to be
performed, what are the hazards? How to mitigate these hazards, or
how to protect against them, conducting accident investigation
in case of an accident, to know exactly what caused this accident
to happen and try to eliminate that in the future, keeping
records up to date for OSHA inspections,
reporting on safety issues and training employees again, making
sure that everyone who is responsible for a certain task is
well trained to perform this task in a safe fashion. Unfortunately,
not everyone plays by the rules, so there's got to be some
deviations from time to time, and therefore we have to have
discipline and accountability. These are critical components of
the safety program, as they show the consequences for different
behaviors, especially those resulting from Failure to follow
the regulations. It should explain that all employees at all levels,
everyone are expected to adhere to the rules and regulations. So for
example, it doesn't work when the supervisor does not wear a hard
hat, for example, and telling everyone else to wear a hard hat,
you have, again, as we said before, to lead by example.
Examples of the disciplinary actions include termination of any
employee who fully and flagrantly endangers themselves and other
workers or company property through unsafe behavior you cannot
tolerate that. It can come into stages. So there might be a verbal
warning for the first violation, for non flagrant violations,
that's now non flagrant. For the flagrant might be zero tolerance.
A second violation might be a written warning to put it on their
record. And then the third violation, if they insist on doing
the same behavior, suspension without pay. And for the fourth
violation, that's a serial Violator is going to be dismissal
that's for non flagrant violations. Some companies might
adopt a zero tolerance policy, resulting in dismissal from the
first violation, like intoxication on site, for example, that should
be a no, no. It's a totally unacceptable behavior, and should
result in immediate dismissal at the very first event again, to set
an example,
companies might also add a reward or bonus for showing consistent
adherence to the regulations and to offer a balancing carrot to the
other sticks. So for example, we can say, if we can work this month
with no accidents whatsoever, with no lost time, then we're going to
have a bonus for all the employees.
Now, let's talk about the safety program. Some what are the major
elements of an effective one? What is, why is it important? What's
the effect on insurance and the safety culture? What's the
supervisor's role, how to develop the team participation and how to
enforce the policy and communicate that policy, and how to identify
the different hazards, and in case of any incidents or accidents, how
to analyze them.
Why have a written program? First of all, organization. It helps
organize the safety policy
and consistency provides consistency over time, so the
rules apply to everyone.
And completeness of coverage, of coverage, again, if we have just
verbal instructions, we might forget something, or something
might be missed, whether the listener doesn't listen to it, or
the one who provides the information just skips it, but
having it put in writing, gives a better complete coverage of the
information, and it provides sources and origins of
stipulations. So for example, we can say the OSHA code clause
number so and so refers to this issue and specifies that this has
to be done in such and such manner,
and it facilitates review for improvement. So after again, we
are trying to improve our performance, we have reduced our
accidents by 25% how to how can we reduce them by 50% what additional
measures can we make to reduce the number of accidents or incidents?
Some of the elements of an effective of a written safety
program, include the safety policy, as we mentioned before,
the management responsibilities, supervisor and employee
responsibilities, safety committee or team safety meetings, how often
are they going to be? Who should attend them? Hazard recognition,
incident investigation, elimination of workplace hazards.
Is some of the basic safety rules, job related safety rules for a
particular job, if it has some more stringent safety
requirements, disciplinary policy, as we just mentioned, it,
emergency planning, reporting, accidents and incidents, what kind
of documents need to be filled the logs in general, like the OSHA 300
and training. What's the initial training everyone should be
subject to? What are the refreshers? How often are we going
to have these what kind of specialized training someone might
be required to take? And if you're going to be a supervisor, you need
to have a higher level of training. If you're going to be a
competent person, you need to have a higher level of training. What
kind of training should that
be? Additional components may include the personal protective
equipment hazard analysis and program, how to inspect, the
gloves, the boots, the hard hat, the goggles to make sure that
they're working properly, respirator program, if you're
going to work in a in an environment that has a hazardous
air to breathe. For example, it has some fumes or some smoke or
some other components that might be hazardous to breathe, lock out
and take out, which is the control of hazardous energy, especially in
case of electrical outlets and electrical devices. Permit
required, confined space entry, Electrical Safety First Aid plan,
Hazard Communication program, what's the diamond for example?
What does it mean? What are the different colors, and what about
fire hazards and so on? Welding hot work program, hearing Converse
conservation program, for if you're going to work in a loud
environment, then you need to protect your hearing blood borne
pathogen. Plan, violence in the workplace. Plan, emergency action
plan and Hazardous Waste Operations. Plan, how we're gonna
dispose of hazardous waste.
The each employee should have a safety and health record. So here
we have an example that shows the name, job title, department,
whether that employee is permanent or temporary, and the date they
were hired. What kind of hazards are they going to be as exposed to
in their current job and occupational health, medical
examination required if there's going to be asbestos exposure or
lead exposure, or hearing again, if you're going to work in a loud
environment and other hazards, they might be exposed to mandatory
training topics to be briefed
to all personnel, initial when conducted. So you're going to put
the initial the supervisor going to put the initial when that
training is going to be conducted. So everyone should know, for
example, the emergency telephone numbers, location of medical
facilities and first aid kits, etc,
initial individual training topics. So depending on their job
and depending on the test they're required to do, if there are
electricians, for example, that there's going to be Lockout and
take out if they're going to be lifting heavy objects, then back
injury prevention, if they're going to be working where they
might have some cuts, then blood borne pathogens and so on and so
forth.
And then personal protective equipment issued the PPE issued,
head protection, arm and hand, respiratory, eye, foot, face
hearing. So they're gonna again, initial when they receive any one
of these types of PPE, and then person protection provided in the
work area. Again, they're gonna initial next to that. So that's
going to be a record for each and every employee.
The four major elements of an effective safety program include
the management commitment and employee involvement. The World
site analysis, again, to identify what kind of hazards we might have
on site, in general and for particular jobs on that site, if
we're going to have structural steel, for example, for the
skeleton, there's going to be working at higher altitudes, so
there's definitely falls are going to be one of the issues if you're
going to have heavy equipment working on site. Then again,
struck by might be an issue if you you're going to work near power
lines, then definitely electrocution is going to be an
issue. If you're going to have deep excavation, then definitely
cave ins are going to be issues. So that's the work site analysis,
hazard prevention and control. Once we identified hazards, we
have to devise means to prevent them from happening and
controlling that. And safety and health training. Train the
employees to make sure that they know how to deal with these
hazards,
and we're going to have a record of the safety training that shows
the date, the topic on which the employees have been trained, the
supervisor signature and the employee signature. And this is a
record that needs to be kept on site, and OSHA is going to inspect
that to make sure that everyone has been properly trained.
Management must commit resource.
Says you got again. Safety is going to cost money and time, and
individuals must commit to personal safety.
We might form, or we should form a safety committee, and it should
have a policy, so the safety committee might select a certain
name, for example, for itself, or a nickname, and it's going to have
a motto, for example, zero accidents, and who's the leader,
the recorder of the safety meetings and the safety committee
meetings, who are the members and then the charter of that Safety
Policy
Program Assessment Checklist. This is something, once we have a
written program we need to make sure that it includes all of
these. So this is a planning and control tool. We're gonna write
what, what it needs to have, and then we're gonna check each one as
we finalize it and we as we ensure that it's existing in our plan.
You can see these in the lecture, online, in the in the PDF file,
the safety culture must run through the entire organization
from top to bottom. So it has again, the leaders had to have to
lead by example, and they have to show their full commitment to
safety. So everyone involved in the organization, from the top,
from the CEO to the craft who are going to be doing the daily jobs
outside.
Supervisors must understand the safety program, to be able to
communicate it safely to the employees and to be able to
enforce it without any prejudice.
To enforce the policy, you have to observe the world behavior. Define
critical behaviors if you notice that someone is showing disregard
to safety precautions. So define the critical behaviors by
observation. Sometimes video recording is going to be a good
tool. And as as you all know from visiting construction sites, once
you have a video camera on site, everyone pays attention. Everyone
tries to behave on to be on their best behavior. This is something
in psychology called the Hawthorne effect. The Hawthorne effect, if
you have a camera, or even if you have a clipboard, walking around
on site, people are going to pay attention, and they're going to
behave in a better way. Inform employees of safe procedure to
follow, show them what's the proper thing to do, and wait for
their feedback. Make sure that they do understand what kind of
instructions you have been given them, and intervene if you feel
that they do not understand or they're not listening attentively.
Stand your ground. Employees are going to try to resist the
application of the safety policy because they see they feel that
it's going to take more time, it's going to be heavy, it's going to
be hot in summer, etc. Stand your ground. Do not accept any excuses.
So employees may make excuses or deny a problem exists. Do not be
apologetic. Firmly restate your position, and again, wait for
feedback and intervene in case you do not get the proper feedback,
enforce the policy, confirm that the employee understands the
safety procedures make you may ask employee to state the procedure
back to you. So repeating is going to be a good way of showing that,
emphasize your concern for the employees well being. I'm doing
that for you. I care for you
and communicate knowledge of the program, the values of the
company, the culture we are a company that has a good safety
culture, the goals we want to have zero accidents.
Body language show that verbally and through your body language as
well, that you care for them and you are trying to help them do
their job in a safe way,
and lead by example, so you cannot tell them to do something that
you're not doing yourself.
And make sure that the environment is conducive to following these
safety regulations,
make sure that they're listening, because sometimes you may say
whatever you want, and no one's paying attention. So make eye
contact. Make sure that they're looking at you while you're giving
the instructions, and watch for head nodding, which shows that
they are listening
interruptions try to avoid any interruptions. And if there's any
interruption, repeat what you have just said. Repeat back and make
them do it. So repeat after me. We are gonna wear our safety goggles.
Who are doing that? We are gonna wear our hard hats anytime we are
on site and so on.
Facial expressions. Watch their facial expressions. Yeah, sure.
Sure.
Their posture
and their body movements. Are they paying attention or not
so? Non verbal ways of showing that you care and you have a good
safety culture is clean toilets, for example, go.
Housekeeping on site, clean water supplies you're caring for the
health of your employees, enforcing housekeeping. We're not
going to leave any
electrical wires or cables just like that, so that people can trip
on them and can be electrocuted. Organized tools and supply sheds.
Again, that shows that the company is very well organized and cares
for its employees. Whenever I need a piece of equipment or a tool, I
know where to find it, and after done going to return it to the
same place.
Office safety. Again, the office itself is safe with the proper
guard rails and so on and so forth.
A hazard is an accident waiting to happen,
and it can result in injuries, death, disease, property damage,
and certainly it's going to have economic loss, economic effects as
well. Hazard identification, you need to understand the task
factors so job related for this particular job or for this
particular task on this particular site, are there any specific
hazards? Employee factors, is that employee prone to accidents? Or is
that job type prone to accidents? Equipment factors, this equipment
needs some specific precautions to be used safely. So what are these
precautions?
Self inspection. Make sure that everyone checks their own gear and
make sure that they that it's working properly, especially when
you're talking about the hardness, for example, a fault protection
hardness, make sure that it's working properly, because if it's
not working properly, it's totally useless.
Likely credible accidents, accidents might happen from time
to time. So what's a credible accident? Something that can be
okay, it was not your fault. We can live with that.
Measures to mitigate them again once. The best thing to learn from
an accent is how to avoid its repetition,
and checklists like the one that we saw on the safety and health
program, making sure that we have done all of our homework, that
nothing is missing, and continual reevaluation because the
conditions might change today. For example, we're working in a trench
in a dry environment. Last night, it has rained heavily. Now the
soil itself is destabilized, so we need to reevaluate to see if we're
going to need any additional shoring or any additional
protection.
If accidents happen, or whenever they happen, we need to identify,
we need to analyze this accident to know why did it happen and how
to prevent it in the future. So that should begin immediately
before the conditions change, before anything changes, conducted
by a supervisor who knows how to analyze the accident
and the reasons for investigating. Why are we investigating this
accident? First of all, to satisfy OSHA requirement. It's required by
OSHA to investigate the accidents immediately, to meet the insurance
requirements, the insurance company requirements, because if
we're going to seek compensation for the loss, then we need to show
that we have conducted a an accident analysis to identify the
causes, whether they are direct, indirect, and specifically the
root cause for the accident, not only the symptoms, but the root
cause of the accident.
And to provide the record for the accident, because, again, that's
required by OSHA,
and to quantify cost which might be again related to the insurance
claim,
and to adjust operations again to avoid the repetition of that
accident, to prevent future incidents.
The accident analysis procedure, close the area again to keep the
conditions as they were when the accident occurred. Don't alter the
scene like CSI, when they investigate a crime, they make
sure that the site is cordoned or closed so that nothing changes.
Interview the personnel who were there. What did you see? What did
you hear? What exactly happened? And analyze evidence objectively
looking at the existing scene. You can analyze it through your
experience and know exactly what happened, because sometimes the
personnel might lie or might deny something, or might have limited
information, so you can conclude additional things by paying
attention to the environment around you, and what are the
lessons learned? We're not trying to blame anyone, as we're trying
to protect everyone from the repetition of that accident.
So basically, this is our lecture on the safety and health program.
I hope that you are paying attention to what we're
discussing. I hope you learned about the safety program here, and
I hope you implement that once you work on the construction site,
whether through your co op or through your full employment.
See you in another lecture. Bye.