Disclaimer: These communications are intended for the employees of HB Global. We recognize that the general public will have access. The views expressed in these communications represent Bob Whalen in the context of HB Global and may not apply to broader audiences.
June is National Safety Month, and while safety is our focus every day, we want to take this opportunity to highlight what safety means to us at HB Global, why it’s always our top priority, how we live it, and how it supports our core values.
This is so important to us that Safety is the first of our HB Global principles. Generally, our principles are not listed in any specific order, but safety is the exception to that. It is listed first because it is our top priority.
It’s fairly straightforward for us to say that safety is our most important focus. While it’s pretty clear what that means, it’s still crucial for us to dive into the details of how that plays out for us on a daily basis and why this principle is our top priority.
Our Safety Principle
“Safety comes first in everything we do. The work we do is inherently dangerous, which is why safety is always our top priority. We acknowledge there is sometimes a cost to putting safety first, but if we don’t go home the same way we came into work that day, we’ve failed. Safety is not just the responsibility of our Safety Department but rather the responsibility of every employee owner throughout the organization.”
Why We Put Safety First
If you don’t go home the same way you came to work that day, then we’ve failed.
At HB Global, we value you as a person, more than just the skills and output that you bring to the table. At the end of the day, we recognize that work is not your whole life. You also have dreams outside of work and people you want to impact. You have family, friends, pets, etc. who are depending on you and want you to stay safe as well.
If that isn’t enough of a reason, putting safety first makes sense from a practical standpoint. While there may be higher costs to prioritizing safety and being proactive about it, this often saves even greater expense in the long run. If there is a safety incident, this often results in the need for jobsite clean-up, paperwork, project delays, finding additional people to work on the project, etc.
Felipe Meireles at William R. Nash likes to say. “Safety isn’t an addition to our work. It’s a condition of our work.”
Furthermore, when we minimize unnecessary costs from taking shortcuts or losing focus, we’re able to create more value for our ESOP, which means more value gets to be shared back with employee owners. Prioritizing safety also fulfills the part of our mission to make HB Global a great place to work.
What Safety Means at HB Global
At HB Global, safety is our top priority for all the reasons listed above. If we have to choose between incurring additional costs or ensuring safety, we will always put safety first.
This isn’t just a slogan on a wall. It’s something we live every day, and we strive to put appropriate systems, resources, and structure in place to support the safety of all employee owners. One way we do that is through having safety teams at each of our divisions dedicated to this important area of our work.
However, we also believe that safety is everyone’s responsibility. This duty doesn’t just fall on the safety teams. At the end of the day, we are accountable for our own safety. Each of us needs to be responsible for wearing our PPE, taking toolbox talks seriously, educating ourselves, speaking up when needed, etc.
We also play a role in keeping our team members safe by ensuring they are wearing proper PPE, following safety protocols, etc., especially newer members of our team.
How We Live Safety as Our Top Priority
Our goal is to practice safety in all that we do every day. There are times that our teams go above and beyond to show safety is truly our top priority, not just something we do when it’s convenient. Let’s look at some examples in action:
- Recently, there was a near miss at a Bell project site when a hard hat fell down an elevator shaft. Within two weeks, all hard hats were replaced with Type 2 safety helmets with straps, and all team members jumped on board with this quick change to prevent future incidents!
- At North Shore, two individuals whose jobs are not specific to safety were trained to internally train Scissor Lift and First Aid/CPR. Congrats Chris Johnson on First Aid/CPR and Mark Ruscio on Scissor Lift Licensing!
- William R. Nash celebrated an entire year of no recordable incidents in 2025! In fact, they made it to almost a million work hours (998,000 hours) without a recordable incident!
Safety and Our Core Values
Some may be surprised that Safety isn’t one of our core values, given it is so important to us. While it’s not specifically noted as a core value on its own, it is part of what it means to live our four core values.
Trust
Some behaviors that demonstrate our core value of trust are doing the right thing and honoring our commitments. That means that we make decisions that put the safety of our team and ourselves above all else. This also helps us fulfill our mission of being a great place to work.
Team
When we live our core value of team, we are looking out for our teammates, not just ourselves. We help ensure that they are practicing safety in the work that they do. We can respectfully let teammates know if they need to adapt to meet safety standards.
Grit
Grit may be misunderstood as doing whatever it takes to get the job done. While it does mean persevering and going the extra mile, we should not allow safety to take a backseat. Grit means getting the job done without taking shortcuts that may jeopardize the safety of ourselves or our team.
Growth
Part of getting a little bit better each day means putting safety first. It means finding ways to make the job safer while making it more efficient and effective. It means being a lifelong learner to understand how to stay safe with new equipment and new technological advances.
Yes, it would be simpler to say that safety is our top priority, but when it comes to our day-to-day work, it’s important to keep in mind the details behind why we believe that.
Have your own thoughts or questions about the HB Global Safety principle? Send them to [email protected].