Fall 2009 Newsletter - M E Rinker Sr School of Building Construction ...

Lessons LearnedTHE ART OF ENFORCING SAFETY ~ A LESSON LEARNEDIntroduction by Daniel E. Whiteman, Ph.D. ~ BCN 1969, 1992, 2002Lesson Learned prepared by Rafael “Lefty” Izquidero ~ Coastal Safety SuperintendentOne of the Core values of Coastal ConstructionCompany is that every employee shall:“Consistently Make Safety our PrimaryObjective.” In my conversations with ourSafety Superintendents, I constantly lookfor “Lessons Learned” in applying andteaching this value to everyone that stepsfoot on one of our project sites. Recently,one such Superintendent, Rafael “Lefty”Izquidero shared with me his thoughts as tohow we must move beyond enforcement intohaving Safety become an ingrained skill ofevery employee by taking it beyond simplyenforcing rules to the point of it becominga passion for each person on the project. Iasked him to put these thoughts into writing,and below is his recounting of a “LessonLearned.”Close to forty years have passed since theOccupational Safety and Health Administrationcame to be, millions of workers aresafe and in good health thanks to carefullyresearched regulations whose every detailwas duly pondered before being compiledinto our safety standards. Companies havedeveloped impressive Safety Manuals,hired highly qualified safety professionals,and still, close to 6,000 people die and over4 million occupational injuries and illnessesare reported annually.WHAT ARE WE NOT DOING RIGHT?We are not enforcing the regulations effectively!Book knowledge and classroomtraining are essential, but no classroom, nomatter how well staffed or endowed withaudiovisual resources, can give real worldexperience and provide the hands-on skillsthat are required to keep a job site safe. Theability to effectively communicate withpeople is the one skill without which effectiveenforcement of safety is impossible,and one that seems to be most lacking in thearea of Safety Supervision. A safety professionalhas to be able to infiltrate the mindof worker and manager alike. He must havethe ability to influence and motivate. Thereare many ways to motivate workers to abideby the rules designed to help to keep themalive and in good health. Today’s workforcecomprises a myriad of cultures and educationallevels that makes the cultivation ofa safety mindset much more challenging.If all people had the same culture, level ofeducation, family environment or financialsituation, the task would be much easier.We must place emphasis on personal contactwith the individual workers in the field. Oneor two minutes of conversation can producea wealth of information that may well helpprevent an incident. The worker might havepersonal issues that are distracting them orthey may be “under the influence.” A trainedprofessional who pays attention to detailswill quickly notice if there is anything to beconcerned about.For a Safety Professional to be effective,they must have clear and active supportfrom the highest levels of management. Themost skillful, capable and highly educatedprofessionals in either field is useless if theyare not strongly backed by their employer.Effective enforcement of safety is the resultingproduct of a combination of factorsthat include, but is not limited to, the following:Knowledge ~ Experience ~ Sensitivity~ People Skills that will enable you toeffectively communicate the message to theworkers in the field.As a perfect example of why all of theseare important is an incident that occurredon a high-rise project on Miami Beach.During an early morning inspection of the28th floor working deck, I was approachedby an Ironworker who proceeded to shakemy hand and thank me repeatedly. I had nomemory of having given him anything or inany way deserving such an effusive displayof gratitude.“Why are you thanking me like this?” Iasked while scrutinizing his face and demeanorfor signs of intoxication.“I owe you my life”, he says, with utmostrespect. At this point I’m still not convincedthat there is any importance to this dialogueso I say:“Okay, give me a quarter and we’ll call iteven.”“No”, he says “It’s true, let me explain.”Andhe goes on to tell me how the day before hehad spotted me on the deck while he wasworking withouthis safetyglasses.“I was afraid Daniel Whitemanthat you wouldsend me homefor the day so I stopped tying the rebar andlooked around for a pair of glasses. I founda pair that somebody had either droppedor more likely discarded from the looksof them. I put them on and went back towork, still a little uneasy with the thoughtthat maybe you had seen me and maybea ticket would still be issued. It could nothave been more than five minutes later thatI heard someone yelling nearby and turnedmy face to see what the shouting was about.The blow knocked me on my back. It felt asthough somebody had kicked me in the face.I was bleeding from my left eyebrow.”At this point he lifts the safety glasses thathe is wearing and shows me a bruised cheekboneand a small cut on his eyebrow.“My buddies were trying to place rebar inthat beam over there (a 20’ horizontal beamconnecting two shear walls) and somehowthe bar they were working with got stuckand they started pulling on it. They gave ita hefty tug and it came loose all of a suddenmaking them trip and fall sending thebar towards me at the very moment that Ilooked in their direction. It hit me right inthe middle of the lens, knocking me over.”Several of his co-workers confirmed hisstory. An eye, if not a life saved.If you are to avoid injuries and save lives, asa safety professional you must cultivate beyondnormal parameters the ability to sensewhen something is not right and be able tonotice things that those whose minds arepreoccupied with just “getting the job done”might overlook.If you would like to submit anarticle for the “Lessons Learned”section of the newsletter, pleasecontact Kim Stanley at kimms@ufl.edu.15