Construction safety week is an annual week-long event with the intention of inspiring everyone in the industry to be leaders in safety. Since 2008, the construction industry is the leader in worker fatalities in the United States with an average of 1,008 annual deaths.1 The goal for Construction Safety Week is to strengthen the industry’s safety culture and performance through awareness and a personal dedication to safety.
This year’s theme of “Strong Voices, Strong Choices” is focused on building a collaborative environment that aims at building empowered teams. Taking care of one another is a powerful cultural initiative that is often missing in our industry. Giving each person the ability to use their voice to speak up and work collectively to ensure that everyone goes home at the end of the day is crucial. When we empower everyone, from the newest of laborers to the office administrators, we are creating a collaborative environment that is refreshing and inspiring for everyone involved.
On each jobsite, there are a myriad of hazards that exist, from the obvious to the not so easy to spot; each of these hazards pose a risk to our industry professionals. As leaders in safety, every single one of us has the obligation to stop the job and assess those hazards whenever they are identified, even when they present as just a “feeling”, and the hazards may be hidden.
It’s paramount that we collectively support an environment in which we are maintaining a level of awareness on our surroundings, our actions, and the actions of others. Through working together to maintain this focus, we are creating a unified front that fosters collaboration and trust. The more eyes we have looking for hazards, the better we are able to be proactive in eliminating injuries.
The objective of O’Brien’s Health and Safety Program is to continually improve upon the overall safety performance at OBCO. Recognizing that unsafe work practices generally cause as many or more accidents as unsafe conditions, a focus will be placed on both to create a safe and healthy workplace for all OBCO employees, subcontractors, clients, vendors, and visitors. Our Core Values of Collaboration, Trust, and Innovation, serve as the principles that guide us in creating a positive, strong, and empowered workforce.