5 Things Every EHS Team Wants Their Project Managers to Understand

Safety Teams have a difficult task ensuring that everyone on site is kept safe from injury, illness and accidents. They do this by having multiple safety protocols in place, which can get complicated if there are multiple contractors on a site. 

Part of a safety manager’s role is to ensure that those both on site and off are aware of the safety procedures and that they have everything that they need to run a safe and secure site. However, it’s also important to note that each individual worker also has their own responsibility to complete all necessary onboarding and training requirements to help achieve this. 

Using the ANSI/ASSP A10.33-2020 safety standards found here, and utilizing cutting-edge construction onboarding and safety training software like GoContractor, your safety team can make sure that everyone is always on the same page with regards to on-site safety. 

Unfortunately, project managers and site executives can often, unwittingly, derail the hard work that has been done by safety managers. This isn’t done on purpose, but simply happens because they don’t necessarily see what is happening day-to-day from a safety perspective. Safety on construction projects should be number one on everyone’s mind, but as a project manager with lots of different priorities to juggle, it’s not surprising that sometimes safety issues slip down the list. Communication with your safety team and having the proper resources for your project to run smoothly, is essential. This is where having a great safety management and documentation system comes in handy.

To help you support your safety teams in doing their job, it can be valuable to understand the issues that they face. Here are five of the most common things that can make the jobs of safety teams more difficult, and how you can solve them and be an important contributor to on-site safety in your construction project.

1. Positive reinforcement can go a long way

Discipline is vital when safety measures are ignored, and the danger is real. Project managers who ignore those who properly practice safety protocols, while only paying attention to the rule-breakers are sending a negative message to their workers. Encouraging better behaviors with positive feedback and doing that regularly will help cement it into the contractor’s daily life. This in turn, will make it easier for the safety team to do their job effectively.

2. Digital tools can save time and reduce mistakes

Modern-day sites can often have multiple onboardings, across different sites, with various types of subcontractors. The management of the documents, reports and safety protocols can feel never ending. Safety manager’s need to know where those documents are and who is legally allowed on site. Using GoContractor’s app and management system, you can make sure that all documents are uploaded to one place, your contractors are safe, and their training is up to date. You can even get reminders to let you know if a worker’s compliance is expiring, so that you can address the issue quickly, before they are no longer allowed on site. This can help prevent delays and keep your construction project on track.

3. Safety teams are partners in your project’s success

When everyone from the executives to project managers down to the construction workers are aware of the procedures, it makes the safety team’s lives so much easier. 

If an executive or manager is not on board, the dissatisfaction can drip down to the team members and construction workers resulting in safety measures not being followed and more importantly, the safety of the workers being compromised. Using constructive feedback to voice any concerns is necessary to make sure the right rules are implemented. Construction safety is paramount and best practices are constantly being worked on to provide the best protocols for the construction site.

4. When it comes to safety, focus on the details

Don’t just focus on the end goal, when project managers have tunnel vision about the final project completion, it puts the safety manager under more pressure to ensure no incidents take place and that everyone is compliant. Changing behaviors and strategies – use of daily toolbox talks and software such as GoContractor can help that goal be achieved on schedule. Getting everyone clear on the objectives and the route to reach that goal are imperative to good site management.

5. Corporate culture should not trump safety

Project managers and site executives – this one is for you. Making sure that everyone is aware of the safety team’s final goals – projects are run safely, incident costs are cut and working conditions are improved is so important. 

As part of your role, you should make sure that workers, contractors and office staff are aware of the procedures, have a safe place to discuss any concerns they have and that managers are empowered to keep everyone safe and on track with their projects. Compliance will become a problem when you put your profits over people and see your staff as a commodity.

How can you more easily manage and streamline safety on your construction project?

As a great project manager, there are things that you can do to empower and support safety teams on your construction project. Using a digital worker onboarding tool like GoContractor is a great way of helping your safety team to do what it does best; keep everyone safe on site, reduce time lost through incidents and arrange training if necessary. The app includes valuable tools such as checking everyone’s training status, their legal compliance and enables your safety team to prompt training and keep everyone’s documents in one place. 

Your safety team can upload customized training and onboarding that is role, project and language specific, ensuring accessibility across the team. Meanwhile, all workers will be able to get notifications regarding their status, any new or additional training that needs to be completed, along with other notices you need them to be aware of. GoContractor even synchronizes with powerful integrations for access control, giving your safety team full control over who is on site.

To find out how GoContractor can help you work more efficiently with your safety team, schedule your demo today.