By: G. David Sload, President-CEO, ABC Keystone

We hear all the time from those outside our industry that we are not safe, yet we hear our members say they take “Safety First” seriously. Which is it? It’s probably a little bit of both. Statistically, over the last several decades our industry has continued to get safer. However, we can do better to reduce jobsite injuries and fatalities.

Our industry and our members should always take a Safety-First mentality. After all, aren’t our employees our greatest assets? If that indeed is the case, then we should want every employee going home at the end of the day in the same or even better shape than they arrived. Safety should be an integral part of every day on every jobsite.

Let’s look at how we build a safety culture. Safety needs to start at the top with company owners and senior managers. This may mean resources in the form of time, personnel, and money. Safety is not luck on the jobsite but a well laid out program to make sure the jobsite and all of it participants are safe.

For the small and midsized firm, it may be difficult to be able to provide time, personnel, and financial resources. That is where ABC can help. It all begins with the STEP program. This self-evaluation program can help you understand from where you are beginning and give you a roadmap to build that culture. ABC Keystone will be happy to help companies fill out their STEP forms. In addition, the Keystone Chapter will help evaluate the results of what is submitted and help members build a roadmap to an improved safety culture and better safety results.

The data shows that companies that participate in STEP are much safer than the BLS industry average. This is not by accident, but because these companies have focused the spotlight on safety. For any ABC Keystone member that participates in STEP we provide discounts on select safety training. The 30 minutes it takes you to fill out the paperwork will save you money and put you on the road to improved safety.

If the savings in training cost and the roadmap to a better safety culture is not enough for you to participate in STEP, then think of your greatest assets, your employees. Do it for them so that you can send them home to their loved ones in better shape than when they arrived on the job. STEP into a program that can lead to “World Class Safety.”

Posted June 23, 2022