Construction Safety & Compliance

Construction Safety & Compliance: An Interview with Jeff Gram

Vice President/Managing Partner J2M Consulting Associates, LLC

UCANE’s Construction Outlook editors recently caught up with Jeff Gram at a busy construction site in Boston. Jeff is the Vice President/Managing Partner with UCANE member firm J2M Consulting Associates, LLC of Mansfield, MA. We were able to get a few minutes of Jeff’s time to talk about the importance of safety in today’s heavy construction industry.

What is your background in Construction

Safety and how long have you been with J2M Consulting?

I have over 41 years of experience in performing safety management and environmental support activities at heavy/civil construction projects and site locations. My start was as a field technician/ site safety officer, and I progressed through various management levels to the position of Safety Director for Modern Continental Construction. Well-known to many UCANE members, MCC was not only the largest heavy civil contractor in Massachusetts at one time, but had a national presence with revenues peaking at over $1 billion annually. In 2007, I began working for J2M Consulting and I am presently VicePresident and managing partner. We are a specialty consulting firm serving small to medium size heavy civil contractors to address civil engineering, land survey, safety engineering, and environmental compliance needs. I also have been a Certified Instructional Trainer, as administered by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, for 22 years.

What range of Safety related services does

J2M Consulting offer to contractors engaged in excavation, highway, and utility construction?

Safety services provided to most clientele consists of the formulation and application of corporate safety programs and processes and development/ implementation of site-specific safety plans. We also perform periodic on-site audits, identification of corrective actions, craft worker and management level safety training, as well as subcontractor management. We work with contractors on all types of safety and environmental issues that they may encounter on a site. We assist clients with sampling and testing of soils or air quality and making sure construction operations are meeting regulatory compliance standards. J2M prepares required reports and interacts with federal and state agencies as needed to keep the project moving, to document activities, and to close out the project.

The COVID-19 Pandemic required contractors and their Safety professionals to react quickly to an uncharted array of safety protocols

continued on page 51

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in order to protect employees. How did you and your company adapt to this unique situation and what have you learned from the experience?

The onset of the pandemic was very dynamic with orders and shutdowns changing by the day. The lessons learned on the projects that I have been involved with, was to be flexible in approach but at the same time have a strict written plan/guidance for all construction site personnel to clearly understand the state and federal requirements as they evolved. Then by assuring that a clear transfer of information on a regular basis (daily huddle) was occurring, a constant flow of knowledge and understanding can be achieved. I was involved with multiple projects that were deemed essential and by establishing and following strict protocols each site was able to avoid schedule interruptions due to the presence or spread of Covid-19 cases.

Aside from COVID related

Safety issues, what other Safety concerns were most prevalent among your horizontal construction clients in 2021?

With former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh heading up the Department of Labor, we all know that his close association with labor means that worker safety is an important issue for him. He has recently asked for a 17% increase in OSHA’s operating budget in order to increase inspection personnel (among other areas) so I think all industries can expect increased site inspections over the next few years. A few contacts that I have in the administration have also indicated an enhanced focus on worker training in both a pro-active and enforcement approach is in consideration for the continued on page 52

There has been a sea of change in the construction safety industry with struck-by hazards being the leading cause of injuries for the first time in over 40 years of recordkeeping by USDOL/ OSHA. This now requires different priorities to be used in the development and implementation of safety processes during construction work. I have been working with the J2M Consulting Associates, LLC client base, primarily through training events, to enhance issue awareness among employees, and to identify potential preventive/corrective actions. Getting employees to refocus on activities that may have often become a daily routine is a challenge, but it is the first step in addressing this revised trend of “struck by” injuries that has occurred in the industry.

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upcoming period. I am in agreement with this methodology. My experiences have identified that a lack of skill or knowledge on an issue is a leading cause factor for serious incidents. Training, in various forms, is the appropriate corrective action to address this threat to workers in the heavy construction industry.

As a member of UCANE’s Safety Committee, do you think contractors as well as their workers can benefit from participating in industry organized and OSHA endorsed events like Trench Safety Week and other similar Safety Stand Downs?

Absolutely. Workers must have a proper knowledge/skill level for the safe undertaking of a specific construction task. Without occasional reinforcement, it is quite natural that complacency can set in and become a real threat to a safe operation. The stand-downs provide an excellent forum to allow for enhanced focus on a specific issue like trench safety and other topics. Awareness and focus are key for trade workers to have a total appreciation of safety related issues that routinely confront them when performing construction task activities. n

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