Staying Safe Together – Teamwork

Safety in the Work Place

One of the most important benefits Cogbill Construction offers their employees is a safe work environment. When working in this industry safety is the key to a long and successful career.

How Cogbill Construction Stays Safe

At Cogbill Construction our employees meet every Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. to discuss safety. These meetings consist of educating employees on safe work practices, addressing safety concerns from the employees and addressing safety incidents and near misses. The meetings are usually based around a specific topic, from heat related injuries to driving safety, from the operation of a grinder to bending an inch-thick plate on a press brake. We even have safety discussions that explains why team work is important. This includes the shop team and field team.

Each week a different team member speaks on the topic at hand. They present information from past experiences, from our Safety Manual, or material found on websites such as the OSHA website. A topic is either assigned by the safety coordinator, suggested by employees or chosen by the person making the presentation. The meetings are always an open forum where employees can ask questions and make comments. At the end of each meeting employees always have the opportunity to bring up any safety concerns they may have noticed; this helps us to stay on top of mishaps that may occur in the shop or in the field, so we can address and remedy them early on.

We value our employees which is why we make safety a top priority in our operations. We make sure that an employee has the proper training, the proper personal protective equipment, and the proper supervision before using any piece of equipment or performing any job tasks. Above all, we make sure all of our employees have the mindset to give safety its due consideration.

Meeting Our Safety Goals

During our safety meetings we often test and certify our employees on the topic at hand. The test is generally around ten questions; they range from multiple choice to short answer. After each test we go over the correct answers and discuss the reasoning behind the answers to assure that each employee understands the “why” behind each answer. We also keep documentation of which employees are attending the safety meeting, what was discussed during the meeting and the tests that each employee takes. Hands-on safety and operations training is an entirely different dimension of the Cogbill Safety Culture that we will address in an upcoming blog.

Other methods to improving our safety is by having employees report even the smallest of incidents and near misses. We keep a record both in digital format as well as on paper of every incident and near miss that occurs. Routine statistical analysis uncovers trends and help us predict possible future occurrences. This helps us to stay on top of how safe our shop and field operations really are and also to monitor repetitive incidents. If incidents are occurring repeatedly, then it is our job to modify our training practices to keep the incident from ever occurring again.

“Safety is as easy as ABC- Always Be Careful” -Unknown

Written by: Heather Folk

Check out more of our blogs at Cogbill Blogs or check in with us on our social media pages: Facbook, Twitter & LinkedIn