occupational safety and health standards and all rules , regulations , and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct ”. ( USDOL , 1970 ) This law also covers required training for all staff to perform their job in the conditions and environment in which they will be working .
Note : You may ask , “ What is the difference between a reportable serious injury and a non-reportable minor injury ?” A non-reportable minor injury is “ an injury requiring first aid only ” ( USDOL , 1970 ) so it stands to reason that anything not matching that description should be reported and classified a ‘ serious injury ’.
2 . Continue Building “ Buy-in ”
• Build an alliance or partnership between management , the union ( if one exists ), employees and others on your site .
• As new subcontractors and staff arrive on site , they will require proper onboarding .
• A compelling reason for the change must be spelled out to everyone . People must understand why they are being asked to change what they normally do and what it will look like if they are successful . If people hear through the rumor mill that something is “ going down ” and haven ’ t formally been told anything , they naturally tend to resist and opt out . ( USDOL , 1970 )
3 . Safety Must Be Viewed as an Investment , Not an Expense
32
• A safety program is an investment in your team and your company because employing safety procedures has proven to improve quality of work , employee retention , emotional buy-in for seeing the company succeed .
• When management demonstrates care for their employees , it builds employee trust in the company ’ s management .
• Safety and health must be considered during an event ’ s budget development process and funded accordingly .
• An often overlooked expense is staff training . Be sure to budget the funding , time and resources required to properly train staff in all company policies and procedures , especially safety .
• Perform an initial training of management and supervisory staff , union leadership ( if present ), safety and health committee members , and a representative number of senior employees . This should include both safety and health training and any needed management , team building , hazard recognition , or communication training , etc . This gives you a group of senior people to draw upon as resources and gets key personnel on board with needed changes . ( USDOL , 1970 )
• Establish a steering committee comprised of management , employees , union ( if one exists ), and safety staff . The purpose of this group is to facilitate , support , and direct the change process . This will provide overall guidance and direction and avoid duplication of efforts . To be effective , the group must have the authority to get things done . ( USDOL , 1970 )
• Clients usually assume health and safety programs are in place . Also , cybersecurity requirements are rapidly moving into our industry . These are all protections many clients now expect of us and generally have them in their contracts .
• Regardless of whether we are an individual or an organization , much of our work is project to project . Our industry is also very competitive .
• Here is the rub , increased health , safety and security costs means increased overhead . Because you are doing things right , your costs may be higher than a competitor ’ s who may not have a safety program . The client may assume both companies have comparable safety policies and based on price , the client may go with the lower bid . The company with an active healthy safety policy may lose the job because they are doing things right . This is when leadership ’ s commitment to the program will be tested .
• To level the playing field , the prospective client should be made aware you have a safety program , and how they benefit from that program .
• Depending on the client , consider including in your RFP response , a basic packet that includes key bullet points about your safety policy and state that your policy compares favorably against others . Ask them to verify the responses are apples to apples and how yours may include more protections for
“ Never mistake a clear view as a short distance .”
-- Unknown
4 . Vision the client . This influences the client to ask the next question “ Where is the other company ’ s safety policy ?”
• By providing answers to questions the client didn ’ t know to ask , you can inspire them to ask some tough questions of your competitors .
Here are some preliminary questions to get you thinking :
• Where are you now ?
• Where do you want to go ?
• How will you get there ?
• When do you want to get there ? ( Johansson , 2017 )
occupational safety and health standards and all rules,
regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which
are applicable to his own actions and conduct”. (USDOL,
1970) This law also covers required training for all staff to
perform their job in the conditions and environment in
which they will be working.
Note: You may ask, “What is the difference between a re-
portable serious injury and a non-reportable minor injury?”
A non-reportable minor injury is “an injury requiring first aid
only” (USDOL, 1970) so it stands to reason that anything not
matching that description should be reported and classified
a ‘serious injury’.
2. Continue Building “Buy-in”
• Build an alliance or partnership between management,
the union (if one exists), employees and others on your
site.
• As new subcontractors and staff arrive on site, they will
require proper onboarding.
as resources and gets key personnel on board with need-
ed changes. (USDOL, 1970)
• Establish a steering committee comprised of manage-
ment, employees, union (if one exists), and safety staff.
The purpose of this group is to facilitate, support, and
direct the change process. This will provide overall guid-
ance and direction and avoid duplication of efforts. To
be effective, the group must have the authority to get
things done. (USDOL, 1970)
• Clients usually assume health and safety programs are
in place. Also, cybersecurity requirements are rapidly
moving into our industry. These are all protections many
clients now expect of us and generally have them in their
contracts.
• Regardless of whether we are an individual or an or-
ganization, much of our work is project to project. Our
industry is also very competitive.
• A compelling reason for the change must be spelled out
to everyone. People must understand why they are being
asked to change what they normally do and what it will
look like if they are successful. If people hear through the
rumor mill that something is “going down” and haven’t
formally been told anything, they naturally tend to resist
and opt out.
(USDOL, 1970) • Here is the rub, increased health, safety and security
costs means increased overhead. Because you are doing
things right, your costs may be higher than a competitor’s
who may not have a safety program. The client may as-
sume both companies have comparable safety policies
and based on price, the client may go with the lower bid.
The company with an active healthy safety policy may
lose the job because they are doing things right. This is
when leadership’s commitment to the program will be
tested.
3. Safety Must Be Viewed as an Investment, Not an
Expense • To level the playing field, the prospective client should
be made aware you have a safety program, and how
they benefit from that program.
• A safety program is an investment in your team and
your company because employing safety procedures
has proven to improve quality of work, employee reten-
tion, emotional buy-in for seeing the company succeed. • Depending on the client, consider including in your RFP
response, a basic packet that includes key bullet points
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