Skanska USA Inc. has taken worker safety to a new level.  While they know that it is hard for a construction site (or any workplace) to be 100% accident free, it’s what they do after an accident has happened that really sets them apart.  It is something that should become a best practice for any company.

In an article by Hendrik van Brenk, Chief Environmental Health and Safety Officer for Skanska USA Inc, entitled Creating a Culture of Construction Workplace Safety Around the Globe, van Brenk talks about Skanska’s Global Safety Stand Down policy (GSSD).  GSSD focuses on any fatal accident from around the globe that happens at a Skanska worksite.  It is to ensure that learning from the incident will raise awareness among employees, subcontractors, suppliers and the general public.  It is also to pay respect to the deceased.   The GSSD includes a letter from the CEO, information about the accident and the individual who lost their life and a set of learning and discussion points.  This GSSD is distributed to every location and is shared with every employee.   The employees discuss the incident, processes and safety strategies followed by a moment of silence.

One example the article mentioned, a Skanska employee was hit by a vehicle in reverse.  The incident generated the following learning and discussion points:

Learning Points

• Organize the site so that pedestrians only cross roadways at designated crossing points.
• Pedestrians will be separated from vehicles.
• Materials and work areas are to be placed away from the roadway
• Eliminate the need for vehicles to reverse; if this is unavoidable; provide a trained flagman to assist vehicles to reverse.

Work Site Discussion Points

• It is imperative that everyone at a work site remains aware of all activities in his or her work area or travel zone.
• Communication between different contractors at a work site needs to be a coordinated effort.
• Pre-task planning often deals with hazards to the work crew; it also needs to acknowledge that other crafts or contractors may impact conditions at a work zone.

Every company should add a briefing similar this to their best practices.  It does not necessarily have to be done only when a fatality happens, many companies may not have fatalities on the worksite.  It can be done after any serious injury.

• Step one: Thoroughly research the accident to find the main cause.
• Step two: Gather employees together to discuss the incident, learning points and discussion points.
• Step three: Come up with learning points on what can be done differently to avoid an accident like this to ever happen again.
• Step four: Discuss important worksite safety practices that all employees must be aware of.
• Step five: Implement the learning points throughout all work locations.

This best practice will get all employees involved in finding safety solutions and will remind all employees that safety practices should not just be rules on a piece of paper.  Safety really affects everyone.

Van Brenk, Hendrik. “Creating a Culture of Construction Workplace Safety Around the Globe.” EHSToday.com June 1, 2009

Filed under: Workplace Tips by Beth Faraci