Safety Emphasis 2021: Access to the Work
Over the past several years, we have identified a safety emphasis each year based on safety data collected across the company. The purpose of the yearly safety emphasis is to focus on changes in the safety environment or to address issues we are experiencing corporately. As in past years, in 2021, we will be highlighting a safety emphasis throughout the year, providing training, updating procedures, and giving it attention in our safety audits.
Just because we are adding a new safety emphasis for 2021 doesn’t mean that we don’t give attention to past safety emphases. As a reminder, below are our past safety emphases:
- 2017 Gloves
- 2018 Silica Dust Standard
- 2019 Ladders Last
- 2020 COVID-19 Protocol
Our safety theme for 2021 is going to be Access to the Work.
In the pre-construction phase, this means we ask ourselves and our trade partners: How will the workers on our jobsites get ACCESS TO THE WORK they are to perform?
In the construction phase (safety audits), this means we ask ourselves and our trade partners: How are the workers on our jobsites getting ACCESS TO THE WORK they are performing?
The workers on our jobsites are not auditioning for an episode of American Ninja Warriors, and jobsites should not be obstacle courses to be maneuvered. Once workers have arrived in the work area, they should be able to perform their duties without being exposed to potential hazards.
Can a worker or a visitor to our jobsite walk from the gate into the building site and to their work area free of obstructions and potential safety hazards? This can mean many things on a jobsite including, but is not limited to:
- Defined, level walking path.
- Clean jobsite.
- Organized materials.
- Infill slab depressions, mechanical openings.
- Steps and ramps at elevation changes (slab edge, dumpster entry).
- Planks with railing to cross foundation excavation.
- Ladders positioned properly.
- Controlled access zones to access ladders.
- Leading edge warning lines.
- Guard rails and tie-off points.
- Temporary scaffold stair towers, infill stair treads.
- Scissor lifts and boom lifts used properly (no climbing rails or climbing out of lifts).
If you cannot walk safely and easily to the work, then the workers cannot get ACCESS TO THE WORK.
Look for potential hazards. Don’t accept them, rather take action to correct them.