Team members across H.B. Neild Construction’s divisions, jobsites and offices took part in multiple days of programs and focused awareness as part of Construction Safety Week.
Director of Safety Quais “Q” Savoir and his team localized the national initiative with spotlight presentations for individual departments across H.B. Neild’s workforce.
“It’s a full focus on safety, related to any high hazard situation,” Savoir said.
“We relate it to H.B. Neild with the variations and different risk assessments performed for any high-risk areas or jobs we have going on. Also, we use it as, unfortunately, a reflection of any incidents that have occurred in our general area and how powerful it can be to refocus our understanding of how dangerous the job is.”
H.B. Neild also extends the safety effort from job sites and warehouses and into the office building.
Safety factors that impact all employees include teaching points on mental health and safety tips for body posture and ergonomics.
According to Savoir, the safety team, including Andrew Jones, Carl Certa, Brandon Daniels, Milton Sellers and Keegan Romero, spoke about specific projects they are contributing to.
“They see those guys on an everyday basis, and we need to look deeper,” Savoir said.
“One of our talks was ‘planning with precision,’ which can be referenced in many things. You have safety observational reports that are done and all this terminology, but you need to understand these things are in place to help. They are a guiding factor. It’s not just something that you write on a piece of paper.”
Jones helped lead a discussion at the Golden Triangle Polymers site in Orange County about empowerment.
The question was asked, “how do you test empowerment?”
“If you see something, you own it,” Savoir said. “The moment you don’t say something, you basically made yourself and the other person powerless. You gave them permission to do the unsafe procedure. The next person is going to do the exact same thing. You must empower that individual. So, in the morning when the foreman sees a guy, a 20-year-old, he asks, ‘how are you doing this morning?’ Engage it from there. Maybe he’s not fit for duty. Sometimes it’s that simple. Like, ‘I understand you want to be here, but I feel like for your health, the crew’s health and everyone else, let’s have a further conversation about exactly what’s going on. Even if it’s personal, I’m here for you and let’s gauge if you’re fit for duty.’”