Leadership's Role in Creating a Best-in-Class Construction Safety Program - CCS Construction Staffing

A successful construction safety program begins at the top. Leadership influences the behavior that occurs at lower levels.

Leadership’s support in prioritizing and leading the company’s construction safety program is important. The workforce’s safety must be at least as important as the quality, productivity, and profitability of construction projects.

Leadership must remain visibly involved in promoting safety among the construction workers. Leaders’ behaviors affect the workers’ behaviors. This impacts the health and safety of the workforce.

Follow these guidelines to stay active in your leadership role in creating a top-notch construction safety program.

Unite Leadership in One Direction

Determine the direction that leadership wants the construction safety program to go in. Alignment in both purpose and direction is required to successfully develop and implement the program.

After determining a common purpose and direction, have an experienced safety professional complete a program gap analysis. This creates the framework for the change needed to increase safety throughout your workforce.

Develop a Safety Program Action Plan

Explain to the rest of the leadership team the type of support needed to implement the construction safety program. Include the impact their actions may have on the success of the program.

Leadership’s involvement in implementing the construction safety program shows commitment to the workforce’s well-being. It also holds leaders accountable for their actions. Having weekly, monthly, or quarterly activities for leaders to participate in keeps them on task.

Ensure your construction safety program includes measurable action items in the following areas:

• Demonstrating management commitment
• Integrating safety as a value
• Ensuring accountability at every level
• Elevating site safety leadership
• Empowering workers
• Increasing communication
• Promoting training and continuing education
• Encouraging owner and client involvement

Examples of Leaderships’ Participation in the Safety Program

Leaders who actively implement changes in the construction safety program promote trust among the workforce. This makes it easier for workers to adopt new safety initiatives, policies, or procedures.

The following examples demonstrate leadership’s involvement in updating the company’s construction safety program:

• The CEO visits a job site to acknowledge the Safety Champion of the Month in front of other workers.
• The CFO brings lunch to an office location to thank the employees for their dedication to safety.
• The president actively participates in monthly safety committee meetings.

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