Building a Legacy of Safety: How BE&K’s Onsite Safety Committees Are Making a Difference

Many years ago, BE&K Building Group (BE&K) embarked on a transformative journey that redefined safety standards across all our projects. Recognizing the paramount importance of our workforce’s health and safety, we established dedicated Safety Committees on every project. In this blog, we reflect on the lasting impact of these committees, celebrating their integral role in maintaining and elevating BE&K’s commitment to safe work environments and practices.

Establishing a Culture of Safety

Safety Committees benefit onsite employees’ physical well-being and the overall success of a project. These Committees include representatives from all levels of participating trade partner organizations, giving workers a voice in health and safety matters and increasing their engagement and commitment to workplace safety.

Benefits of Safety Committees

• Improved Safety Culture: Committees help foster a culture of safety throughout a project, ensuring its priority at all levels.
• Enhanced Communication: Committees provide a formal platform for open dialogue and communication about health and safety issues, fostering enhanced collaboration between the Construction Manager and its trade partners.
• Identification of Hazards: Regular Committee safety audits help identify potential hazards and reduce the number of workplace near misses, incidents, accidents, and injuries.
• Policy Implementation and Enforcement: Committees assist in the implementation, enforcement, and review of site-specific health and safety policies and procedures, ensuring they are effective and being followed.
• Improved Worker Health and Well-Being: Focusing on physical safety and wellness initiatives can lead to improvement in overall worker health and well-being, higher job morale and satisfaction, increased productivity, and lower turnover rates.

Implementing Onsite Safety Committees

BE&K requires onsite Safety Committees on every project. Be sure to incorporate the following into your project’s Safety Committee:

• Define the Roles and Responsibilities of the Committee: Once your Safety Committee is established, the first step is to define its roles and responsibilities. This will identify objectives and give the group a sense of corporate purpose. Identify and prioritize the Committee’s goals and establish action plans for individual team members to achieve the group’s goals.
• Conduct Regular Inspections: The Committee should implement a daily/weekly program, similar to BE&K’s Safety Audit/Observation (SA/SO) program, to identify operational hazards. Observed unsafe conditions must be eliminated and unsafe behaviors corrected. Document your inspections, including appropriate follow-up procedures, to confirm that past observations have been properly resolved.
• Conduct Regularly Scheduled Meetings: Use this time to discuss accident prevention methods, safety promotions, hazards noted on inspections, upcoming high-hazard work, and other pertinent topics. Review incidents that resulted in incidents or injuries, as well as near misses. Discuss any repeat incidents. Take corrective action to prevent similar incidents from reoccurring. Follow up to ensure these corrections are enforced, which may require increased safety training, additional equipment, or new procedures.
• Recommend Safety Training: Like BE&K, Construction Managers should always provide a safety orientation to all workers on every project. Safety training ensures workers are familiar with the workplace hazards and know how to complete their job duties safely. When conducting inspections, ask workers key questions to ensure they understand the safety rules and procedures of their work on the project. Ensure they understand “why” a specific rule/procedure has been implemented. If a deficiency is identified, training or re-training is in order.

Creative Strategies for Effective Safety Committees

Successful safety committees remain interesting, fresh, and visible. They get creative and outside of their comfort zones. Popular activities that work for almost any type of business include safety contests/events, guest speakers, training programs, employee suggestion programs, and safety recognition awards. Your Safety Committee needs to get out of the conference room and into the field/facility. The following provides a short list of examples of hands-on activities that can be led by a Safety Committee:

• Create a schedule of supervisor-presented toolbox talks that include employee feedback opportunities.
• Involve committee members in choos­ing enhanced Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) above and beyond standard required PPE on the project.
• Facilitate a Find It / Fix It Incentive Program to encourage employees to report safety hazards and ensure they are corrected in a timely manner.
• Plan an informational campaign — with email messages, posters, promotional boards, and/or a contest — around a key safety topic (i.e., winter slips and falls, etc.).
• Issue awards or plaques to recognize employees who point out safety hazards or practice good safety techniques.

When your Safety Committee is engaged and empowered, it serves as a vital piece of your company’s loss prevention program. With enthusiastic team members and creative activities, the Committee can spread a culture of safety to every worker on the project.

Delivering Client Value Through Unwavering Safety Commitment

The maturity and success of BE&K’s Safety Committees have provided a competitive advantage translating into tangible benefits for our clients, including:

• Reputation for Safety Excellence: Our steadfast dedication to safety bolsters BE&K’s reputation, underlining our reliability and professionalism.
• Operational Efficiency: Minimized downtime due to fewer incidents translates into smoother project schedules.
• Financial Advantages: Efficiency gains and incident reduction lead to cost savings — a benefit we extend to our clients.
• Superlative Quality Work: A safe, engaged, and well-trained workforce is pivotal to achieving the highest quality standards on all our projects.

Continuing the Safety Legacy

Looking back on the journey, establishing Safety Committees has been a cornerstone achievement for BE&K and a true testament to our unwavering commitment to creating and maintaining the safest work environments. As we move forward, we remain dedicated to nurturing this legacy of safety, continuously seeking ways to innovate and enhance our safety practices for the well-being of our employees and trade partners and the satisfaction of our clients.

Our history of safety excellence is not just a record of our past but a foundation for our future. At BE&K, we are proud of the safe, productive, and quality-driven environments we create, reflecting our dedication to excellence in every project we undertake.

To learn more about our commitment to safety, visit us at BE&K Building Group.