Best safety time is spent strengthening culture: meaningful talks, supervisor support, training and recognition.
By Alden Strealy, MS, CIH, CSP, AGC Director of Safety Services
Safety committees. Job site walks. Training. Share your safety observations and goals with management. More trainings. Implement a new tool. Find a new safety vendor. Attend a committee meeting. Pre-job walk. Help with bids. Talk with your team about their mental health. Provide safety gear. Follow up on a near miss. Answer a question for a client.
Where do you spend your time? Where do you spend your “best time”?
There are numerous ways we can improve safety in the construction field. What’s the most valuable time spent? There’s no perfect answer. My recommendation is to focus on waht strengthens your safety culture.
Consider this: there are too many things we CAN do and not enough time. There are also things you can accomplish and others that are MUCH harder to get done. Therefore, the best use of time might be the things you CAN get done, which offer the highest level of impact to your safety culture.
Keep an open mind; this also might be the thing that is hardest for you. Here are my top picks (not in order):
- Plan your safety goals WITH management buy-in.
- Make your toolbox talks/pre-job meetings meaningful.
- Support your front-line supervisors.
- Catch someone in a “job well done,” or even better, write them a note.
- Train a new employee, or an employee in a new role.
Be well, do good!