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.
At HB Global, safety is our top priority. We want everyone to go home the same way that they came to work that day. While safety is our top priority every day, June is National Safety Month, so we want to raise additional awareness on this topic in this month’s blog to emphasize its importance.
It’s crucial that safety be emphasized throughout the organization in all roles. It’s so important to us that it is always the first agenda item that is discussed at our monthly operational division meetings. This ensures that’s everyone is aware of safety trends, incidents, and new guidance.
Today, we’re going to be talking about some of the core principles behind safety at HB Global.
Safety & Efficiency
Last month, we talked about the power of embracing competing ideas. Safety and efficiency are often seen as competing ideas, but when executed well, actually work together to create positive momentum. Safety is always our top priority, but safe practices actually end up creating more efficiency.
Supervisors will sometimes ask if there’s enough time built into the schedule for a 10-minute toolbox talk or a 15-minute JSA. The truth is, there’s not enough time built into the schedule to not start the shift or start the week with these brief meetings. While it may feel like it’s taking away from the work in the moment, the reality is that it’s creating more efficiency in the long run.
By taking the time for that toolbox talk or JSA, you’re first and foremost keeping everyone safe, but you’re also creating long run efficiency. If someone gets hurt on the job, not only is it traumatic for that person and the team, but it creates several delays in the project. The job site may need to be cleaned up, paperwork needs to be completed, and a team member is now no longer able to work on the project.
To embrace the concept of safety and efficiency working together, we need to shift our mindset from short-term thinking to long-term thinking. Safe practices may take a few extra minutes in the short-term, but this will save hours, days, or weeks in the long-term, while most importantly keeping the team safe and ensuring that everyone goes home the same way they came to work that day.
It’s easy to think that certain events won’t ever happen to us or our teams. The top three incident types in the construction industry are falls from heights, “struck by…” incidents, and “caught in between…” incidents. We have seen each of those incident types at HB Global, and most of them were due to shortcuts being taken. To create a safe environment, we need to hold each other accountable.
Leadership Throughout the Organization
Safety can’t just be the responsibility of our safety managers; they can’t be at every job site all the time. Supervisors need to take accountability for creating a culture of safety in their teams and at each project.
Supervisors can create a culture of safety in a variety of ways. This starts by taking the time before shifts to go over toolbox talks and JSAs, allowing team members an extra few minutes if they need to grab their personal protective equipment (PPE), and ensuring that safety doesn’t take a back seat to efficiency. If the message is being sent that efficiency is the priority over safety, team members should contact our Safety office for support.
However, the responsibility of creating a safe environment doesn’t just fall on our supervisors. Each team member needs to be a leader of themselves. This means taking the extra time to be properly equipped with PPE and avoiding the temptation of shortcuts. This also means being a good teammate. If you see something unsafe, say something. Your teammate may not realize that they have a hole in their glove or may have forgotten that they took their safety glasses off.
This is particularly important for our new hires because this is where we see the most incidents occur. As our new team members are learning the ropes, pay special attention that they’re executing the job safely and effectively. It’s not the time to just let them figure it out. Some of our divisions make this even easier by putting new hires in different colored safety helmets for the first six months.
No shortcut is worth it in the long run. We need to think about the costs versus the benefits. We don’t want a disproportionate penalty for the actions we take. An example would be the loss of eyesight because safety glasses weren’t being worn. Unfortunately, in safety, shortcuts can often mean a disproportionate penalty.
What’s Your Why?
Taking a shortcut to save a few minutes could have a lifelong impact. It’s important to consider that this impact will go beyond you and will also reach your family and friends. If you become permanently disabled, it affects the care your family needs to give you, your earning capabilities for your family, the activities you can participate in with your friends and family, and so much more.
As a reminder for why it’s not worth it to take shortcuts, we’ve started the “Safety…. What’s Your Why” campaign. As part of this initiative, we invite our employee owners to bring a picture of their “why”. This could be their dog, their kids, their spouse, their friends, their parents, an upcoming vacation, etc. These pictures get posted in a common area, such as the job trailer, and serve as a reminder each shift as to why it’s important to practice safety and make it home the same way they came to work that day.
This campaign also adds a personal element to the job. Yes, our employee owners are at work, but safety spans far beyond the work world and into the personal world. Seeing each other’s pictures helps break the ice with supervisors or even between other employees. Teammates might recognize that they have the same type of dog or kids the same age, which helps them to hold each other accountable for safe practices.
Safety is such an important topic that we encourage safety at home as well. We want each of our employee owners to be safe in all areas of their lives. Remembering your why can help remove the temptation to take that ladder shortcut at home or risk heat illness at a sporting event.
When it comes to the work we do, safety is really the only thing that matters. While we pay special attention to this in June, it needs to be the priority for every single member of our organization every single day.
Have your own thoughts or questions about safety at HB Global? Send them to [email protected].