Establishing a solid safety culture in a construction company doesn’t happen overnight. Construction electrical safety needs to be prioritized by every single employee and the company must always practice what they preach when it comes to safety. Even if your business complies with all the necessary government safety regulations, you must keep reinforcing the culture of safety in construction sites.
Here are 5 ways to improve the safety culture of your construction company.
Make Safety a Company Value
You can be assured of safety if it is valued over everything else in the business such as productivity, costs, timelines, etc. Establish a list of core values for the company and build the company around these values.
Incidents are responsible for delaying the projects and lead to cost overruns. When you improve safety in job sites, you will lose fewer days to incidents. Moreover, you can reduce the insurance costs when you have a strong safety record.
Continually Train Employees at Every Step
Training holds the key to ensuring a safe workplace. Focus on providing regular safety training to all the employees that will help in reinforcing the best safety practices within the workplace. Ongoing training will help the company retain workers and keep safety on top of their mind. Offer training as a part of the on-boarding process for new employees. This will help them start the job in the right direction and develop safe habits from the very beginning.
Involve Your Workers
Get your employees involved — form a safety committee that includes employees from all levels of the business and involve them while reviewing or updating the company’s safety program. Assemble an incident response team that consists of employees who have basic first aid training.
If the workers are invested, they will take the element of safety more seriously and they will also be more likely to communicate their concerns if they feel their input is valued. One of the primary causes of electrocutions in older workers were mainly attributed to contact with electrical wirings, electrical transformers and other related equipment — which could have been avoided if those hazards were communicated immediately.
Hold Everyone Accountable
Ensure that the employees understand that they are also responsible for the construction site’s safety and that the safety managers are not the only ones accountable for the same. Define safety rules clearly and emphasize that everyone on the site needs to follow them. It is critical that you empower the employees to be vocal if they identify any safety hazards and unsafe conditions. Encourage them to speak without any fear if they see their coworkers not following safety protocols.
Conduct Daily Site Inspections
Inspect all the construction sites before and after each work day to identify and address any safety concerns. Check the construction electrical products, electric outlets, cables and various tools before using them. Hold a brief safety meeting before work begins each day and outline the details of all the tasks that are scheduled for the day along with the safety procedures that the workers need to follow.
Incentivizing and recognizing good safety practices of the employees will also go a long way in ensuring the employees observe a safe culture and perform their job well, such as attending safety meetings, reporting unsafe conditions, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), etc.
At the same time, correct them immediately if you notice anything out of the place that could jeopardize their safety.