BUILDING A CULTURE OF SAFETY

Josh Schmitz, Safety Director of CG Schmidt, closes each newsletter, presentation and safety discussion the same way:

Schmitz understands the complexities, acknowledging that creating safe workspaces begins with building a company-wide culture of safety. Embedded into CG Schmidt’s core values of caring and integrity, Schmitz supports a culture of safety through ongoing education efforts and investment in best practices and procedures. Whether in the office our out in the field, staff-wide learning sessions, corporate updates, subcontractor workshops and candid discussions are held frequently to review and improve safety practices, encouraging individuals to enrich their understanding of what it truly means to be safe.

Safety is a Result 

Being safe is a result of proactive planning and prevention measures.
“Safety is not an activity, and safety is not an absence of accidents,” said Schmitz. “Safety is a result of planning well. When we plan well, we deliver better outcomes.”
Rather than the absence of accidents, injury or violations onsite, safety can be understood as the presence of safeguards. Safeguards can be as significant as tying off for fall protection when working on top of a multi-story facility or as simple as wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE). A recent study reports that a high prevalence of work-related accidents was correlated with a low rate of usage of PPE among surveyed construction workers. In the same study, the most important predictor of proper PPE use was previous safety training.¹

Jobsite Safety: Aurora West Allis Medical Center

Our field team at the Aurora West Allis Medical Center participate in daily safety check-ins. To signal attendance has been met for that day, teams apply a brightly colored rubber band to their hardhats, whose color changes with the start of each workday. Schmitz, project managers and superintendents use this safeguard as a quick visual cue to ensure teams are familiar with changing safety information as the project progresses.

Safety is CG Schmidt

Schmitz emphasizes planning for change and human error when considering onsite tasks and decision making, and CG Schmidt proactively plans in an effort to maintain safe jobsites and safety of personnel through multiple measures. We have successfully implemented SafeStart training for all employees to promote health, safety and conscious decision making in the field, in the office and at home. Field staff receive weekly Toolbox Talks which provide detailed reports of common safety hazards, and they also attend monthly safety stand downs to review project progress and new risks, mitigations and protocols across all project jobsites. Safety is a company-wide collaboration, engaging even our virtual design construction (VDC) teams to create preventative models of estimated risks onsite.

Safety Innovation: VDC

These virtual designs illustrate the actual 3D model of an active healthcare jobsite and highlight improper safety protocols around ladder safety and drywall storage. Project teams review designs and plan accordingly prior to engaging on the site as the project progresses.

CG Schmidt Safety Measures:

» SafeStart training for all employees
» Weekly Toolbox Talks with field staff
» Monthly safety stand downs
» Monthly safety newsletters
» Bi-weekly safety updates in all-staff meetings
» Annual Safety Banquet

“When we break it down to its root, our values of caring and integrity are the foundation of what we do,” said Schmitz. “We care about our employees, subcontractors and others that work on and around our projects and offices. When we care about each other and when we have integrity, we gain the trust of others, we are dependable, and we hold ourselves accountable for our actions.”

Reference:

1. Sehsah, Radwa et al. “Personal protective equipment (PPE) use and its relation to accidents among construction workers.” La Medicina del lavoro vol. 111,4 285-295. 31 Aug. 2020, doi:10.23749/mdl.v111i4.9398. https://www.ncbinlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7809954/