Strengthening Jobsite Safety Climate
When workers and management value safety, we see fewer hazardous work practices on the jobsite. But are we doing all we can to make that happen? If a superintendent starts with a safety talk in the morning, but focuses only on production the rest of the day, foremen and workers may start to think cutting corners on safety to get the job done is OK. A good safety climate requires integrating safety concerns into every aspect of a firm's operations.
This is why CPWR has published a new workbook, Strengthening Jobsite Safety Climate. Each worksheet contains a quick self-assessment for leading indicators of safety climate. This is followed by a list of ideas that owners, contractors, safety directors and supervisory staff can implement to evaluate and improve their safety climate. The ideas range from including safety in company mission statements and holding daily huddles to using suggestion boxes on the jobsite and implementing near-miss reporting systems.
The early reviews from contractors have been outstanding. "These worksheets are a great, easy-to-use audit of your safety program," says Paul A. Amedee, CSP, Vice President of EHS at Safway Group, the national scaffold and access powerhouse. "I've assigned all my EHS professionals in the U.S. and Canada to evaluate our safety climate using the workbook - identifying which best practices we already use in our organization, and which we don't. We are going to use the results in a gap analysis to look for ways to enhance our efforts."
Strengthening Jobsite Safety Climate is available for download on the CPWR website, and print editions are available while supplies last by contacting news@cpwr.com.
Pete Stafford
|
CPWR IN PRINTRecently Published Journal Articles by CPWR Scholars
Comparison of musculoskeletal disorder health claims between construction floor layers and a general working population. Ann Marie Dale, Daniel Ryan, Laura Welch, Margaret A Olsen, Bryan Buchholz, Bradley Evanoff. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Sept 2014 (published online ahead of print).
Exploring physical exposures and identifying high-risk work tasks within the floor layer trade.
Jamie McGaha, Kim Miller, Alexis Descatha, Laurie Welch, Bryan Buchholz, Bradley Evanoff, Ann Marie Dale. Applied Ergonomics, July 2014.
Fatalities in the construction industry: findings from a revision of the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness classification system. Xiuwen Dong, Julie Largay, Xuanwen Wang, and Janice Windau. Monthly Labor Review, July 2014.
Risks of a lifetime in construction, part I: Traumatic injuries Xiuwen Sue Dong, Knut Ringen, Laura Welch, and John Dement American Journal of Industrial Medicine, June 2014 (published online ahead of print).
|
|
|
ONLINE RESOURCES
Find the latest on regulatory efforts and Create-A-Plan to control exposures at Work Safely with Silica -- a one-stop source of information on how to prevent a silica hazard and protect workers
![](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs005/1106836319273/img/82.png?a=1118416584149)
eLCOSH is the premier online source for construction health and safety information, with research, training materials, fact sheets and more
![Construction Solutions](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs005/1106836319273/img/6.gif?a=1118416584149)
Construction Solutions is a safety and health database designed with construction contractors and workers in mind - an inventory of common industry hazards paired with common-sense solutions
![CPWR](http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs005/1106836319273/img/7.gif?a=1118416584149)
Visit CPWR for information on our training programs, research findings, and resources for your health and safety or research initiatives
|
|
ABOUT US CPWR -- The Center for Construction Research and Training is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created by the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. Working with partners like you in business, labor, government, and the universities, we strive every day to make work safer for the 9 million men and women who work in the U.S. construction industry!
|
|
|