SAFETY

SAFETY

LAWRENCE FRY | SAFETY DIRECTOR

What Does Safety Really Mean to You?

Please join me in congratulating Bryan Mitchell, Area Safety Manager, for earning his Construction Health & Safety Technician (CHST) certificate. It’s a prestigious certification issued by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and requires years of dedicated safety experience and passing a rigorous exam.

What does safety mean to you? What is your “why” to work safely? We all have our different reasons, and many of them overlap. We hear a lot of safety slogans in the construction industry. Some include: Safety is our #1 priority; Safety is no accident; Our goal is zero accidents; Safety first; and Safety is our culture. What do those slogans really mean to you? More importantly, do they truly motivate you?

When I facilitate safety classes, often the term safety culture comes up and the class discusses what safety culture means to them. More times than not, I hear a lot of responses that sound great, but the descriptions are of an ideal safety culture and do not represent the realities of what we encounter on the jobs every day. Remember, a safety culture is simply what we do consistently every day regarding how we incorporate or do not incorporate safety into our daily activities. A safety culture can be great, mediocre, or even bad. In my time with Helix, I have come to believe we have a very strong safety culture. I see it every day on the jobs. However, if our safety culture was as amazing as the descriptions I hear in safety classes, there would be no need for me to have to teach those classes. We have room for improvement. That’s not a bad thing.

Let us go back to the “why” you personally work safely. Is it because we have policies, and you are going to follow them? Is it because you do not want to lose your job? Is it because you do not want to put your family through the stress and agony if you were to get hurt? Is it a combination of those reasons or something that was not mentioned?

I would like you to reflect on that and truly think about what your reason is for working safely. Think about why you fill out a PTP before each task, buckle up every day, wear your PPE, and just as important, why you do those things when no one else is around. If you do not always do those things or take shortcuts when no one is around, what would it take to get you to change?

The one thing I have learned in my 23 years as a safety professional is no matter how severe or minor an injury is, when someone gets hurt and calls their loved ones, a couple of emotions immediately take over the family member. The emotions are stress and worry. Ultimately, the people we value the most pay the emotional price for what happens to us and the choices we make.

Remember to focus on your values. Focus on the safety values we share at Helix and help us improve our safety culture. Find your “why”, understand it, and make any necessary adjustments so you can enjoy the time with those you love most without the annoyance or hindrance of pain.