Puritan Medical Products expansion, Pittsfield, Maine
Safety Excellence in Trying Times SAFETY n
By Anthony Falcon & Scott Knowlen
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he combination of challenges faced by The Cianbro Companies in 2020 have been daunting, and not without adverse effects on our business and daily lives. Maintaining the positivity needed for sustaining our culture of safety excellence became a high priority for all of us. It is very easy to yield to distractions without deliberate effort to maintain the safety plan the Company has laid out. The potential for distractions and preoccupation with current external events is at an all-time high. Our landscape on the job has experienced significant change. COVID-19 has taught us much about microbial hazards, how to prevent their spread, and how to make our workplace safer and healthier. Our clients have placed strict control on who enters their facilities, requesting confirmation that team members are fit for duty before entering the job site. Social distancing, monitoring our health and the health of those close to us, wearing facial coverings, and disinfecting surfaces have quickly become new habits to get used to. 8
CIANBRO CHATTER
Adapting to Change Although most of us are wary and cautious when it comes to colds, viruses, and the flu, COVID-19 quickly made us become super effective at preventing the spread of microbial diseases. Always ready for the challenge, our team members set their job sites up for hygienic success. As essential workers, they knew that “No One Gets Hurt” meant “No One Gets Infected.”
Start with a Plan Our senior management team met daily to set the direction of the organization. Following the CDC guidelines and working collaboratively, plans were put in place to support our role as an essential business while supporting our clients. The steps in their plans assured that people maintained social distance on the job, in vehicles, on breaks, and even in emergency situations. Guidance was given for times when team members could not avoid social distancing and facial coverings became a mandatory means of spread prevention. Strict attention was given to high touch surfaces. Even a seemingly harmless activity like signing a safety meeting roster became an unsafe practice. The cleaning and disinfecting of shared spaces went from something we should
