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VALUES IN ACTION
5 THE VALUE OF PUTTING SAFETY FIRST
The Value of Putting Safety First
Joeris Receives Highest Safety Rating by Association of Builders & Contractors, Diamond Step Certification
Adolph Fierros, Safety Director’s Safety Program Success Insights
“ Think Safety” in bold, black letters is imprinted on the back of every Joeris safety vest. These words stand out against the bright yellow vests, a call to action to practice safety daily with intentionality and forethought.
The Safety team has been on a mission to transform the safety program at Joeris, beginning with changing the mindset around jobsite safety.
Ensuring a safe work area is everyone’s responsibility and the Safety team has found ways to make the program workable, applicable, and functional. Or, as Adolph Fierros, Safety Director, describes it, “we made it commonsensical.”
The result of this new program and mindset has truly been astounding! For the first time in company history, Joeris has received the distinguished recognition of Diamond STEP certification by the Associated of Builders & Contractors (ABC)! This incredible achievement was accomplished by the North Texas office and is directly attributable to embracing the company’s top value of safety.
Each year ABC bestows safety STEP awards based on a measurement of leadership, commitment, and the quality of processes and systems of each construction manager’s safety program. Construction management firms receiving various levels of certification, from bronze all the way to diamond, can use these certifications as a benchmarking tool to assess effectiveness of their program.
Two key factors that have been instrumental in decreasing accidents and injuries are site logistics pre-planning and safety pre-construction meetings with trades. An assessment of site logistics with respect to safety concerns occurs before a shovel ever turns the dirt.
A site walk and discussion of ingress and egress routes, pedestrian and vehicular traffic, lay-down areas, and electrical sources are critical to starting a project safely. Additionally, once a project gets going, safety preconstruction meetings occur with the project team and trades performing high-impact work to plan for potentially hazardous operations and safety-engineer out as much risk as possible.
Adolph’s goal is to have the best safety-trained project teams in the industry, and he and his staff provide inperson formal safety training for all four Joeris offices.
ADOLPH FIERROS
Safety Director
Safety is a moving target. As the “ industry changes, we are adapting to these changes in our safety program.”
ADOLPH FIERROS, SAFETY DIRECTOR
Elevating the safety program and providing opportunities for safety leadership will be one of the first safety courses Adolph develops later this year. This course will focus on implementation of the four core values of safety, integrity, leadership, and excellence into safety best practices.
The behavioral-based safety program’s success is in large part a result from the company’s commitment, accountability, relationships, extra step and sustainability to safety. Read more on the next pages about the Joeris CARES program.
VALUES IN ACTION CONSTRUCT THE VALUE OF PUTTING SAFETY FIRST
Behavioral-Based Safety Program
Joeris CARES is about the personal side of our safety program. We have rules and regulations, but we also need to engage our employees on a personal level to help them stay focused on safety. Joeris CARES is about moving people to be more proactive in recognizing safety issues and taking the time to bring the issue up and solve it.
COMMITMENT
It takes a deep commitment to change, an even deeper commitment to grow. We are making a commitment to advancing our safety program. We want each of our employees to make it home safely everyday.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Joeris provides all employees with safety equipment procedures to make sure they can do their jobs safely, but ultimately each individual is accountable for his/her safety and the safety of their co-workers.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships are the key foundation for ensuring the safety of our co-workers and ourselves. When you build a relationship with someone it is easier to approach them and discuss unsafe behaviors.
EXTRA STEP
If you see a safety risk, don’t assume that someone else will take care of it. If you see it, take the extra step and fix it. Understand the process to solve a problem, or request service or replacement of equipment.
SUSTAINABILITY
The sustainability of the safety program here at Joeris relies on commitment, accountability, relationships and taking the extra step to make sure we all go home to our families. There is no set target for safety, it is continuous.
ADOLPH FIERROS, SAFETY DIRECTOR
7 THE VALUE OF PUTTING SAFETY FIRST
Actions of an Effective Safety Leader
Joeris CARES isn’t hard or require paperwork - its success is dependent on each and every person committing to doing their work safely. These five actions can help you in creating more awareness of Joeris CARES.
