From time to time new people will join your construction team. They may be permanent additions, or only helping out for a day or two. Sometimes they’ve come from another supervisor, even from another project, but often they’ll be new to the company. Supervisors and project managers are always busy, so regrettably most will give the person the briefest greeting, point them in the direction of where the crew is working, then expect them to get on with the job.

Unfortunately, on one project we had a subcontractor’s employee fall to their death. They had only started on the construction project and with their company that morning. Nobody had explained the hazards of the project to the new employee, no one had checked to see if they could work at heights, nobody was checking what the new employee was doing, or looking out for them. The employee did a silly thing and instead of climbing down from the elevated working platform using the ladder, they rather clambered through the handrails and tried to step across the gap between the platform and the second floor of the building – slipping and falling to their death.

Sometimes new employees are given tasks which they aren’t capable of doing, which could result in mistakes and poor quality. But equally bad, is when a skilled person is given menial tasks because the project manager or construction supervisor is unaware of their skills and capabilities. This not only demotivates the person, but it’s a waste of money because a less skilled person on a lower wage could do the task equally well.

Of course, the first thing with any new employee in construction is to ask for proof that they’ve attended the project induction. Then talk to them for a few minutes to understand what experience and skills they have. If necessary ask to see their qualifications – particularly check licenses and never assume that if the person was operating a vehicle or machine elsewhere on the project that they have a valid license to operate the equipment.

If the employee has come from another supervisor ask that supervisor about the employees abilities, strengths and weaknesses.

Check that the person has a reasonable command of the language used on the project – will they understand your instructions and will they be able to communicate with the rest of the project team. Explain what you are doing and how the person will fit in the construction team. Tell them where they’ll find tools and materials for their tasks. Explain your expectations of your team. Then introduce the person to others in the construction team, particularly those they will be working with. Ask one of your older hands to look out for and help the new person. Finally, later in the day, ask the responsible person how the new person is doing and if there are potential problems that you should know about.
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Sure, this all sounds like it will take 10 minutes of time that you can ill afford to spare, but that 10 minutes will more than pay for itself if it’s helped prevent an accident. It will help to utilise the person efficiently and effectively. It will ensure that they fit into the team quicker. It makes the new employee feel like a valuable part of the construction team and not just a body filling a gap.

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​Paul Netscher has written several easy to read books for owners, contractors, construction managers, construction supervisors and foremen. They cover all aspects of construction management and are filled with tips and insights.
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The books are available in paper and ebook from most online stores including Amazon.

© 2020 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.

Every construction project and client seem to have different safety standards. Some clients can be quite slack when it comes to safety, while other construction projects have numerous rigorous rules. Even the authorities don’t always apply safety standards in an even and consistent manner.
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The client has their safety standards, then there are the national and state safety standards, while some industries, like oil and mining, have their own particular rigorous safety standards, while your company has their safety rules and safety standards. Which safety rules should you follow? It can be quite confusing moving between construction projects with differing safety standards.

When implementing safety measures the rule should always be that the most rigorous safety standards apply. But more importantly, that work is always done in a safe manner. So, no matter the rules and regulations you should never carry out work which could endanger a person’s life or damage property.
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Often common-sense is the best safety protection. Unfortunately, some in construction don’t apply common sense.

​Always ensure that you understand the project safety requirements. Importantly ensure that your crew understands the project safety requirements, because if it’s confusing to you then it’s certainly confusing for them. Always ensure that the safety standards are set from the first day on the project and that they are applied consistently through the whole project.

Some clients may have safety rules that you feel are unnecessary. In fact, some safety officers have their own unique things they look for. It’s seldom worth arguing that a safety rule is unnecessary, and it’s not a fight that you’re likely to win. In reality, the more you argue the case, the more likely the client or safety officer will dig their heals in and enforce their rules. Often this argument results in a bad attitude, which causes the person to look for additional safety issues and problems to make your life more difficult.

Of course, if there are additional safety rules which are hindering the project or adding additional costs which aren’t a general requirement on other construction projects you could perhaps argue the case. But first, check that the additional safety requirements aren’t stipulated in the contract document (this could include wearing additional personal protective equipment).

In which case the contractor should have allowed for these additional measures in their price, and you should have no reason to refuse to comply. If there are additional rules which hinder work which hasn’t been stipulated in the contract, then the contractor may have reason to claim additional costs and time from the client, but probably won’t win an argument to slacken the requirement.

​But before arguing the case against a particular safety requirement always consider whether the rule will prevent an accident and how much of a nuisance it actually is. We often resist change simply because we don’t like change! We shouldn’t be arguing against something that will prevent an injury. And some fights aren’t worth wasting our time and energy on or aggravating our clients.

​None of us want to be injured at work and none of us want any of our crew hurt, so it’s vital that our construction projects are always safe no matter if the safety rules and regulations are relaxed, or the client accepts a lesser safety standard. Applying a consistently high safety standard across all our projects will reduce accidents and it will mean that our construction crews automatically follow these standards on their next project.
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Many see safety as a pain, additional costs, rules, an impediment to construction progress, paperwork, something that the authorities and clients focus on as a reason to torment contractors, and more.

In fact, there are probably some readers already yawning thinking “not safety again”! But, if you want to know about additional costs, wasted time and more paperwork, then let your construction project have a serious accident. Serious accidents could close the project for hours, even days. It can take days to investigate and clear-up. It creates poor media attention, and it will impact those on the construction project, and particular the project manager’s and supervisor’s reputation, as well as the contractor’s reputation.
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But, should we even consider all of that? Poor safety impacts peoples’ lives. It could even impact your life. It could be life-changing. Everyone on your construction project has the right to return home in the same state of health as they arrived at the start of their shift. Would you want to knock on somebody’s front door to tell them that their son, daughter, husband or partner is lying critically injured in hospital, or perhaps even dead? Hurt on your project!

Accidents eat profits
Your family expects to see you safely home at the end of each day. Accidents could result in days in hospital and weeks of recuperation. The time when you aren’t earning money, or are only paid part of your salary. Days of pain. Days of trauma for your family. Accidents could lead to the loss of an eye, finger or limb. They can lead to permanent disability. A serious injury may prevent you from working again in construction.

Accidents result in increased insurance premiums for contractors, which pushes up the cost of business. Accidents eat profits.

Loss of business
Most clients expect their contractors to work safely. Many clients ask to see the contractor’s safety statistics and contractors with a poor safety record won’t be allowed to work on their construction projects – these contractors may find it difficult to find work.

Production loss
Of course, accidents could mean that a critical piece of construction equipment is damaged, which will impact progress. An injured worker will result in less production. If the injured person is a key person, such as a crane operator or someone with a key skill they could be difficult to replace, and their loss will impact production on the construction project, causing the work crews to be less productive, even standing idle while a replacement is sought. Then, what happens to the work crew if it’s the supervisor who is injured?

Unnecessary wages 
Often the injured person’s wages must be paid by the company while they are booked-off work recuperating. This is a cost to the project.

Delays
Sometimes completed work, or critical material is damaged in the accident. Repairing or replacing the items costs money and often causes delays. Delays result in additional costs and could result in the client imposing monetary penalties on the contractor.

Investigations
​All serious accidents are investigated by the authorities. Where a construction project manager, superintendent, supervisor or foreman is found to be negligent they could receive a monetary fine, they could be dragged before the courts to face a lengthy and costly trial, and they could even end up doing prison time. Negligent construction companies and careless managers will definitely be sanctioned and fined.

​Indeed, it’s not worth working unsafely, it’s not worth taking short cuts and it’s not worth putting production and schedule ahead of safety. Your life and the lives of others depends on you working safely, it depends on project managers, superintendents and supervisors ensuring a safe working environment for their crew, other workers on the construction project, the client’s personnel and the general public.
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Safety isn’t just about rules, rather it’s about changing behaviours, it’s a commitment from everyone from top management, through the project manager, supervisors and superintendents, down to every worker to work safely.

Accidents are life-changing. They often happen when you least expect them. Indeed, I’ve completed dangerous work at heights without incident, only to have a stupid accident at the end of the construction project when trucks were being loaded. It is possible to complete construction projects without accidents. I’ve completed many projects that worked in excess of a million man-hours without serious injury. It takes a little care and a commitment from workers and management. It means that safety comes first on the project.
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Safety should never only be about rules. ...Continue Reading...

​Paul Netscher has written several easy to read books for owners, contractors, construction managers, construction supervisors and foremen. They cover all aspects of construction management and are filled with tips and insights.
The books are available in paper and ebook from most online stores including Amazon.
​© 2019 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author.