This week, jobsites across the nation have paused work, and leaders have huddled the crew to discuss safety hazards. The safety stand-down is a practice wielded by builders throughout the year, especially during Construction Safety Week.
But how should builders make the most of this time? And how do they make sure they keep the team’s attention and deliver the most important information?
“I think everybody has to go into that eyes wide open,” said Shaun Carvalho, chief safety officer for Boston-based Shawmut Design and Construction. “We’re going to create a lot of learning environments where we’re going to throw a lot of stuff out there.”
To maximize stand-downs’ impact, experts suggested focusing topics for specific trade groups and creating an engaging presentation that requires participation.
Specific topics with specific trades
If the information presented at a safety meeting or toolbox talk is not relevant to those listening, then it’s likely that people will tune it out.
“The best methodology is to make safety meaningful to the craft workers and team members who are being spoken to during the stand-down,” said Ned Brown, director of safety for Lexington, Kentucky-based Gray Construction. “If the content is not relevant to them, or it is not presented in a way they can relate it to their work tasks, they will not retain or buy in to the information.”
To that end, contractors will include trade leaders in planning meetings to prepare relevant information for stand-downs.
For example, Hal Wheatley, corporate safety director for Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Manhattan Construction, said his firm will invite the electricians to speak to crews about electrical hazards.
“We do that with all of our trades,” Wheatley said. “We get all the ownership from all the people in the field and it just shows like, ‘Hey, you really care about me. You want to hear what I have to say and what I have to say matters.’”
Jesse Torres, corporate compliance safety director for Granite Construction, said the firm will invite vendors to jobsites to discuss the safe use of tools and heavy equipment.
“It’s about getting them involved, getting them engaged and seeing that it’s about them,” Torres said.
Engaging presentation style
When speaking in front of a group, it’s hardly a surprise that a script read in monotone doesn’t hold attention. Yet that’s often been the standard for safety education.
Contractors have increasingly employed new tools to bring the energy, and therefore attention, up.
“The best is when we have active participation from the contractors. Not getting up and just reading from a script,” said Steve Spaulding, senior vice president and chief environmental health and safety officer for New York City-based Turner Construction. “It’s about knowing the material and understanding the material and having a conversation.”
One of the ways Turner gets more audience participation is to call out specific success stories in safety stand-downs.
Shawmut took another hands-on approach. When focusing on total worker safety and long-term health, the firm presented on the dangers of drunk driving, Carvalho said. They provided a demonstration using golf carts and goggles that simulated visual impairment.
Timing the toolbox talks
Safety Week is a prime time to speak about all things safety. But stand-downs and toolbox talks are year round events. Another way to maximize efficacy is focusing on relevant topics as potential hazards pop up.
“Last year we did a summer stand-down because we wanted to have an emphasis on heat,” Spaulding said. “We want to make sure that we’re getting that communicated to everybody on the jobsite so that we can continue to focus and emphasize the importance of it.”
Carvalho, meanwhile, says Shawmut will have a toolbox talk soon on the addictive and distracting nature of screens, ideally something team members can relate to and learn from.
“The reason that we do that is because you want people to feel really good,” Carvalho said. “And if you feel really good, you’re going to be happy at work, you’re going to produce more and you’re going to want to come back. It’s just going to be a more enjoyable experience.”
